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House of Commons Commission

Answer

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) how many hardback copies of the Official Report have been (a) produced and (b) distributed to hon. Members in each year since 1980; [197868] (2) how many hardback copies of the Official Report have been returned by hon. Members to the House authorities for disposal in each year since 1980; and what percentage of these have been disposed of by (a) burial in landfill site, (b) incineration and (c) recycling; [197869] (3) what the total cost per day is of producing hardback copies of the Official Report, broken down by cost (a) per copy, (b) per hundred, (c) per thousand and (d) in total; [197870] (4) where hardback copies of the House of Commons Official Report are produced; what method is used for their transportation from the publisher to the parliamentary estate; and how many deliveries this necessitates per (a) month and (b) year. [197871] Sir Archy Kirkwood: Bound volume text of the Official Report is the corrected text of debates (including Westminster Hall debates), Ministerial Statements and Written Answers produced for record purposes. Each issue now covers three sitting weeks. Hon. Members who have asked to receive them continue to do so for the duration of their membership of the House or until they request that supply should cease. Information about production and distribution is not available for the period, or in the form, requested. The following data about production quantities, which include copies produced for sale, have been extracted from the printer's records. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Period Number of copies per issue 1996 to June 1999 785 July 1999 to October 2000 680 November 2000 to April 2002 650 May 2002 to November 2002 600 December 2002 to present 540 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. In financial year 2003-04, 249 copies of each issue were distributed to hon. Members. The House of Commons Commission is only responsible for meeting the cost of producing up to 350 bound volume copies for use by hon. Members and House Departments. For the last complete financial year, 2003-04, the total spent on printing and binding bound volume copies (18 issues) was approximately £895,000. This is equivalent to approximately £50,000 per issue, and £140 per copy. Internal staff and other costs are not associated with individual documents and are not included. Bound volume copies of the Official Report are printed at the Parliamentary press in Southwark, case bound by the printer's sub-contractors in Stevenage and returned by road transport to the distributor's warehouse in Nine Elms. Copies are subsequently despatched by Royal Mail or courier to individual recipients except for a small number of copies carried directly to the Parliamentary Estate by the distributor's routine daily delivery van service. The House of Commons Commission has no responsibility for disposal of bound volume copies of the Official Report, which belong to hon. Members to whom they have been supplied.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

426 c1514-5W;426 c1518-9W; 197868;197869;197870;197871

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Costs Distribution Landfill Incinerators Members Recycling Publishing Production Transport Waste disposal Official report

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk