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Written question asked by Mark Hoban (Conservative) on Wednesday, 25 June 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 June 2008. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Monday, 1 September 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Departmental Press

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent by his Department on subscriptions for magazines, newspapers and other publications in each of the last 24 months.
Answer

The Ministry of Defence has a central enabling contract with a journal supplier which all staff are encouraged to use to purchase discounted subscriptions to non-recreational periodicals in order to achieve best value for money. The contract is open to all MOD units, civilian and military, worldwide. It is primarily used for the purchase of medical, technical and academic journals in support of military health care, the equipment programme and education and training. Expenditure under the contract for the period June 2006 to May 2008 is shown in the following table:

Month Expenditure (£)
2006
June 16,900
July 13,167
August 7,130
September 36,572
October ¹233,66
November 64,248
December ¹329,737
2007
January 61,683
February 32,829
March 28,053
April 59,569
May 62,797
June 17,288
July ¹270,089
August 10,861
September 38,019
October ¹180,107
November 25,091
December 33,859
2008
January 12,847
February ¹371,188
March 76,095
April 7,059
May 74,847
¹ Units may choose to pay by monthly or annual payment. Annual payments account for periodic cost variations.

As use of the contract is not compulsory, some units may be using alternative suppliers. Information on expenditure under such local arrangements is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
215212; 479 c1454W
Session
2007-08
Subjects
Press Ministry of Defence
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk