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Written question asked by Robert Halfon (Conservative) on Monday, 29 November 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 1 December 2010. It was answered by Lord Garnier (Conservative) on Monday, 6 December 2010 on behalf of the Attorney General.

Departmental Press: Subscriptions

Question
To ask the Attorney-General how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on press cuttings services in each year since 1997.
Answer

The Attorney-General and Solicitor-General superintend the Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Fraud Office, National Fraud Authority, Treasury Solicitor's Department and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate. The only Law Officers' Departments which use press cuttings services are the Attorney-General's Office (formerly Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers), the CPS and the SFO and this answer is provided on their behalf.

Attorney-General's Office
AGO press cuttings¹
Financial year Total (£ excl VAT)
2000-01² 11,520
2001-02 12,707
2002-03 13,624
2003-04 16,543
2004-05 23,527
2005-06 35,589
2006-07 37,656
2007-08 37,048
2008-09 23,964
2009-10 30,057
2010-11 to date 12,352
¹ There is no separate account coding for 'Press Cuttings' but based on recorded expenditure with press cutting suppliers since 2000-01, the expenditure on press cutting services for the Attorney-General's Office, excluding VAT, is above
² Figures prior to April 2000 are not held on the Department's current accounting system and cannot be accessed without incurring disproportionate costs.
Crown Prosecution Service
Financial year Total (£ inclusive of VAT)
CPS press cuttings
1997-98 21,040.67
1998-99 24,096.13
1999-2000 24,045.55
2000-01 24,635.53
2001-02 19,107.95
2002-03 23,926.08
2003-04 28,741.23
2004-05 24,135.14
2005-06 30,724.78
2006-07 30,192.39
2007-08 27,636.98
2008-09 19,879.94
2009-10¹ 24,460.61
2010-11 to date² 18,845.38
RCPO press cuttings
2008-09 20,300.00
2009-10 18,051.46
2010-11 to date 857.28
¹ The CPS merged with RCPO on 1 January 2010, and the total amount is a reflection of both the CPS's and RCPO's spending.
² Includes online and broadcast media monitoring costs as well as press cuttings services.
Serious Fraud Office
SFO press cuttings
Financial year Total (£ excl VAT)
1997-98 10,511
1998-99 13,380
1999-2000 10,630
2000-01 8,826
2001-02 8,535
2002-03 14,769
2003-04 16,913
2004-05 15,838
2005-06 14,341
2006-07 28,261
2007-08 13,908
2008-09 16,574
2009-10 15,342
2010-11 to date 7,131

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
28160; 520 c116-7W
Session
2010-12
Subjects
Attorney General Press Subscriptions
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk