HC Deb 31 March 1995 vol 257 cc882-3W
Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the President of the Board of Trade 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. [16620]

Mr. Heseltine

The cost to my Department of producing and circulating DTI's most recent departmental report—"Trade and Industry 1995", Cm 2804—was £43,378.67, including VAT, but not including staff time. In addition, £25,627.30 was the cost to DTI of the copies it purchased for internal and external circulation from Her Majesty's Stationery Office. The costs of printing and publishing, were borne by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, which aims to recover these costs from sales revenue, including revenue from the copies sold to DTI, referred to above.

The report was circulated to the top 1,000 companies in the United Kingdom, to other companies which seconded staff to the Department during 1994 or which supported such secondments; to trade associations, chambers of commerce, training and enterprise councils, business links and other key opinion formers in the business community. Copies were also sent to members of the Trade and Industry and of the Science and Technology Committees of the House of Commons and to the right hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham).

Five thousand five hundred copies of Cm 2804 were printed and published. In addition to those required by Parliament and the Department, nearly 1,550 copies were produced to satisfy sales at a price of £16.80 net.

Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the cost of producing and circulating the Department annual report for each of the last 10 years in real terms. [16621]

Mr. Heseltine

Departmental reports were published for the first time in 1991. The external costs to the Department of production and circulation in real terms, including VAT, for the five years of publication were as follows:

Year Cost at 1994–95 prices1£
1991 210,560.98
1992 28,109.82
1993 2,317,300.00
1994 28,061.99
1995 43,378.67
Notes:
1 The figures do not include the costs of copies purchased by the Department from HMSO.
2 The departmental report was not widely circulated externally by the Department in 1991, 1992 and 1993. In addition, much of the production work was carried out in-house in these years and is not included in the figures. In 1994 and 1995, this work was increasingly contracted out.
3 The figure for 1993 is an estimate.