§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee on which date the latest bound publication of a Hansard index was published and for which Session; what are the estimated dates of publication of all sessional indices not so far published; and what are the reasons for delays in publication after January of the preceding normal Session. [26010]
§ Mr. Michael J. MartinThe index for the long Session 1992–93 was published in November 1995. The proofs for Session 1993–94 will be returned to HMSO parliamentary press in early June 1996 and should be published two to three months thereafter. It is expected that the 1994–95 index will be sent to HMSO by the end of 1996 and published early in 1997. Editing the 1995–96 index will begin in January 1997, with a likely publication date later in 1997.
The Library provides the copy for the fortnightly, volume and sessional indexes to Hansard, which are printed and published by HMSO. The entries for the sessional index are generated after the last volume index for the Session has been processed; the copy for the volume is usually received by the indexers two to three months after the proceedings reported. The objective is 148W that the index for a Session of normal length should be published late in the following Session. I understand that this objective should be met for the 1995–96 Session.
The current backlog is a result of problems arising from major changes to the Library's computer system in the summer of 1995.