§ 60. Mr. Cookasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he is satisfied that recent increases in Her Majesty's Stationery Office prices have been within the Government's counter-inflation strategy.
§ Mr. HayhoeHer Majesty's Stationery Office as a trading fund has; a statutory obligation to meet a financial target settled with the Treasury. It is, therefore, necessary for it to recover full costs by charging adequately for its various goods and services. Nevertheless, Her Majesty's Stationery Office prices generally have been kept within the inflation rate and in some cases there have been reductions. But prices for publications, which last year accounted for only about 10 per cent. of Her Majesty's Stationery Office turnover, have needed to be increased more sharply to recover from past under-pricing and the withdrawal of subsidies for most parliamentary publications other thanHansard.