§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list each publication issued by his Department since May 1997, the number of copies printed of each publication and the cost of publication, printing and distribution of each publication. [121328]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 9 May 2000]: It is not possible to provide all the information requested on individual publications without disproportionate expense.
The Department faces enormous communication challenges in reaching its diverse audiences, including around 6.5 million parents, over 415,000 teachers, some 8.5 million students in further and higher education and up to 3.2 million small and medium-sized employers. Since May 1997, the Department has spent £5.85 million from its central Advertising and Publicity Budget on printing 559 new information leaflets and booklets. Print runs vary greatly—from 4.3 million copies of the leaflet "It all adds up", which shows parents easy ways to help with their children's mathematics, to 5,000 copies of an information pack on Millennium Volunteers.
Distribution costs for publications cannot be separated from the Department's contract with its mailing house without disproportionate expense. Since May 1997 this contract has cost £5.22 million for distribution and fulfilment of requests for publications funded from the Advertising and Publicity Budget.