HC Deb 30 March 1995 vol 257 cc731-2W
Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of producing and circulating the departmental annual report for each of the last 10 years in real terms. [16614]

Sir Paul Beresford

Departmental annual reports were published for the first time in 1991. The quantifiable costs to the Department, in the five years of publication, of producing and circulating the report have been as follows:

(£ real terms—1993–94 prices using GDP deflators)

  • 1991: 21,724
  • 1992: 45,700
  • 1993: 56,473
  • 1994: 67,774
  • 1995: 51,938

These are the costs of designing and typesetting the report, and of purchasing copies for the Department's own use or for complimentary distribution.

Other, costs include the staff time involved in drafting the report, which is not separately recorded, and the costs of printing and publishing, which have been borne by HMSO with the aim of recovering the outlay for sales revenue.

Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of producing and circulating the last departmental annual report; what was the circulation list; how many copies were produced; how many copies were sold; and at what price. [16613]

Sir Paul Beresford

The quantifiable costs to the Department of producing and circulating the 1995 annual report, CM 2807, were £52,977. Of this, £26,747 was for design, indexing and typesetting, and £26,230 was for purchasing copies for the Department's own use and for distribution free to interested bodies, including to Opposition spokesmen, the Environment Select Committee and the English local authorities. Of the 3,350 copies produced, 1,800 were bought by the Department.

Other costs include staff time in drafting the report, which was not separately recorded, and the costs of its printing and publishing, which were borne by HMSO with the aim of recovering the outlay from sales revenue. The cover price of the 1995 report is £18.60.