HC Deb 24 July 2002 vol 389 cc1375-6W
Mr. Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how much the(a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002 departmental reports cost to produce; [63105]

(2) what the total production cost to the Wales Office was of the Departmental report in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001; [66681]

(3) what the total cost was of producing the Wales Office departmental report in 2002. [67652]

Mr. Murphy

The cost to the Wales Office of producing departmental reports for those years was:

1999 The Wales Office did not produce a departmental report in 1999;
2000 £2,576.25;
2001 £23,932.63; and
2002 £20,264.45.

The Wales Office 2000 report cost less than the other reports because it was shorter and very basic, compared with the later reports. It was done in black and white and the pages were simply folded and stapled whereas the Wales Office 2001 and 2002 reports were bigger, spine-bound, in colour and were altogether less simple in style.

Another factor affecting the cost is the subsidy paid by the Department to determine the cover price. Because Wales Office reports are bilingual they have twice as many pages as a comparable single language report. The subsidy the Department pays, therefore, enables it to keep down the cover price to something comparable with a single language report. There are other factors which affect the amount paid but these are a commercial matter for the Stationery Office.

Mr. Beith

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the cost was of publishing his Department and its predecessor's annual report for each of the past five years. [70487]

Mr. Murphy

The cost to the Departments of producing Welsh Office and Wales Office departmental reports for those years was:

1998 £7,388.82;
1999 £9,828.91;
2000 £2,576.25;
2001 £23,932.63; and
2002 £20,264.45.

The Wales Office 2000 report cost less than the other reports to produce because it was shorter and very basic, compared with the later reports. It was done in black and white and the pages were simply folded and stapled whereas the Wales Office 2001 and 2002 and the Welsh Office 1998 and 1999 reports were bigger, spine-bound, in colour and were altogether less simple in style.

Another factor affecting the cost is the subsidy paid by the Department to determine the cover price. Because Wales Office and old Welsh Office reports are bilingual they have twice as many pages as a comparable single language report. The subsidy paid by the Department, therefore, enables the cover price to be kept to something comparable with a single language report. The Welsh Office cover prices were much higher than the Wales Office's (£11.50 and £14.00 compared with £4.70, £7.00 and £8.00) so a lower subsidy would have been paid. There are other factors affecting the amount paid but these are a commercial matter for The Stationery Office.