§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the institutions which subscribed to theOfficial Report in the 1978–79 Session and in the 1993–94 Session; and what were the prices of annual subscriptions in 1978–79 and 1993–94 in cash terms and at constant prices. [20016]
§ Mr. HoramHMSO does not keep lists of subscribers to theOfficial Report other than for current dispatches. Details for 1978–79 and 1993–94 cannot therefore be provided.
The price of the annual subscription to the daily Official Report in 1978–79 was £93 and in 1993–94 £1,275. The sum of £93 is equivalent to just over £265 in 1993–94 prices. The subsidy needed in 1978–79 to maintain Hansard at this artificially low price was £2.4 million, equivalent to over £6.8 million in 1993–94. The actual subsidy in 1993–94 was nil.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what profit or loss was made from producing and publishing theOfficial Report in 1978–79 and in 1993–94. [20017]
§ Mr. HoramIn 1978–79, the subsidy voted to reimburse HMSO for losses arising from the sale of theOfficial Report of both Houses at less than the costs of production and distribution stood at £2.4 million. This subsidy was systematically eliminated between 1983—when it had reached £6 million—and 1991, by a combination of productivity improvements and price increases.
The financial position in 1993–94 was distorted by significant investments in new technology and redundancy payments, following HMSO's successful in-house bids for two Hansard market tests; as a result, there is now the prospect that a profit may be made on Hansard for the first time ever next year.