Written question asked by Matt Hancock (Conservative) on Thursday, 11 November 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 November 2010. It was answered by Lord Clarke of Nottingham (Conservative) on Thursday, 18 November 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Departmental Press: Subscriptions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice to which local newspapers his Department had a subscription between June 2007 and May 2010; on what date each such subscription started; and what the cost to the public purse was of such subscriptions.

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.It would incur disproportionate costs to examine each transaction under the relevant accounting codes and research whether it is a subscription or one off purchase, as well as to whether the publication in question is a local newspaper.Accounting systems for the MoJ, HMCS, Tribunals Service and OPG do not differentiate between local papers, national papers or magazines and periodicals. The same account codes also include some books. The natural account codes for the National Offender Management Service do not differentiate between purchased publications and publications created for their organisation.

Secondary information