§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total costs were of570W (a) paper, (b) printing, (c) distribution and (d) circulating letters dated 14 February to acting returning officers for parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales, returning officers for local government areas in England and Wales and electoral registration officers for district and London boroughs in England and Wales in relation to leaflet ER3 published by the Communications Directorate of his Department in January; what the cost was of the destruction of the leaflet; and if he will make a statement. [157634]
§ Mr. Mike O'Brien[holding answer 9 April 2001]: The leaflet "Make Your Voice Heard" informs the public of changes to the system of updating the electoral register allowed by the Representation of the People Act 2000 and implemented on 16 February 2001. The costs for production of this leaflet, which was changed due to an error in calculating the cut-off date for applying for registration on April's "rolling register", are (a) £15,627.50 for paper; (b) £23,905.38 for printing; and (c) £947.50 for distribution. The costs of informing electoral administrators about the availability of the leaflet were marginal as notification was sent by e-mail. The cost of re-cycling the leaflet is £200. The leaflet was re-issued and has been replaced by another which is not date specific.