HC Deb 09 May 1995 vol 259 cc355-6W
Mr. Campbell-Savours

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which organisations have purchased the collected PRODCOM statistics in electronic form and may market the data to the public; and if he will make a statement. [22615]

Mr. Nelson

Taylor Nelson AGB plc is currently the only organisation to have purchased the PRODCOM statistics. It is permitted to market the data in hard copy, CD-ROM and facsimile formats only.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which organisations were invited to tender for marketing the PRODCOM statistics. [22613]

Mr. Nelson

Five organisations submitted marketing proposals to the Central Statistical Office for PRODCOM data. These proposals were submitted on a commercial-in-confidence basis.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ensure that when PRODCOM statistics are located in libraries, the public will be enabled to photocopy them. [22611]

Mr. Nelson

In accordance with the normal conventions on copyright, photocopying of PRODCOM data will be permitted for non-commercial use.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he takes to ensure that there is minimum delay in public access to PRODCOM statistics. [22614]

Mr. Nelson

PRODCOM statistics are released for publication as soon as the CSO is satisfied with their quality. They are published by Taylor Nelson AGB as soon as practicable thereafter.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the PRODCOM statistics were first collected; how much of the first year's data in the series has been published; and when the first year's total data will be published. [22612]

Mr. Nelson

The first PRODCOM data were collected on a quarterly basis from April 1993 and on an annual basis from January 1994 onwards. In all, publishable PRODCOM data spans 90 annual and 34 quarterly reports. Of these, 84 annual and 28 quarterly have been published to date; the remaining 12 are due to be published by the end of May 1995.