§ Sir Donald Kaberryasked the Minister for the Civil Service if, in view of the level of prices of Her Majesty's Stationery Office publications, she will seek to secure greater circulation of necessary Government and parliamentary publications by means of lower prices.
§ Mr. HayhoeHer Majesty's Stationery Office is very conscious of the desirability of securing the widest possible circulation for its publications. However, it has a statutory duty as a Government trading fund to meet its financial objective as settled with the Treasury. This means that it must price its products at a level which gives an adequate return on investment. Since the demand for many of its publications appears to be comparatively inelastic, sales would not be significantly increased by price-cutting. Lower prices will be introduced in those cases where they are likely to stimulate sales and increase net revenue.