Written question asked by Mike Freer (Conservative) on Wednesday, 15 September 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 October 2010. It was answered by Lord Clarke of Nottingham (Conservative) on Monday, 11 October 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Departmental Press: Subscriptions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on newspapers, periodicals and trade profession magazines in each year since 2007.

Answer: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) subscribes to many different periodicals and professional magazines (hard copy and online via individual purchase and subscription) for both staff and the judiciary in order to keep up to date with the latest news and thinking in a wide range of professional areas, including law, corporate services and job specific roles.Accounting systems for the MOJ, HMCS, Tribunals Service and OPG do not differentiate between soft and hard copy purchases. The same account codes also include some library purchases such as books and it would incur disproportionate costs to separate these costs out. The natural account codes for the National Offender Management Service do not differentiate between purchased publications and publications created for their organisation.

Secondary information