§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the magazines and periodicals subscribed to by his Department, stating for each subscription (i) the number of copies taken, and (ii) the annual cost. [52832]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 26 April 2002]: The Department's library and information service is responsible for central purchasing of magazines and periodicals for library use and for retention by individual units. Suppliers, who have been chosen via competitive tendering every three to five years, are used. New supply contracts were awarded in October 2001, for the supply of newspapers and weekly magazines and for journals.
The Department's regional offices have their own libraries with separate purchasing arrangements, and there are small direct purchases by individual units. Expenditure details for the whole Department are kept on a central system held by the Department's finance division, but do not differentiate between newspapers and magazines/journals.
The approximate total annual cost is £317,000 for about 680 titles and 1,500 copies. Discounts have been included where known.