§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the(a) national, (b) regional and (c) local newspapers and media bodies to which his Department sent news releases during the period 2 May 1997 to 29 February 2000. [113992]
211W
§ Ms Beverley Hughes[holding answer 10 March 2000]: All DETR news releases are distributed to the media through the Central Office of Information (COI). The COI target all the main national and regional newspapers, news agencies and broadcasting organisations through their electronic news distribution service. The COI also distributes news releases via fax to media organisations. News release distribution relies on the subject and content of the specific press release. All DETR news releases are available on the Internet and are also distributed via e-mail.
§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for the period 2 May 1997 to 29 February 2000 what was(a) the number of occasions on which couriers were used to distribute news releases from his Department and (b) the total cost of using couriers to distribute news releases. [113966]
§ Ms Beverley Hughes[holding answer 10 March 2000]: The DETR does not use couriers to distribute news releases. News releases are distributed to the media through the Central Office of Information, by fax, by e-mail and through the Press Gallery at the House of Commons.