Sal Khan, Head of Organisational Development & Customer Care

Health, Environment and Leisure Directorate

Dear L Barnett

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

SUBJECT: Council Newspaper

Thank you for your email of January 4^th, 2010, requesting information about the above. I am pleased to enclose the requested information as follows:

1. The Council's `newspaper' is called ES News. It is distributed monthly, 11 issues a year and goes to 53,000 homes and businesses across the borough.

2. Because the contract from production of the publication does not run from April to March as it has recently been retendered it is not as easy to answer this question. From April 2008 to March 2009 £76,491.84 was spent on the publication. From April 2009 to December 2009 when the contract expired £66,536.00 was spent. The new budget for the next financial year (2010/11) is £80,000.

3. We do not offer advertising in the publication at present but do advertise our own services and job vacancies which does produce savings.

4. No external adverts are used.

5. Public sector partners such as Staffordshire Police, South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust, and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service are all given the opportunity to `buy' pages of the paper. In the past year (April 2009 to December 2009) Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service have bought space in ES News amounting to £2,500.

6. Recruitment advertising is in the paper but only Council vacancies.

7. There is no written editorial guide. Content is selected by the Corporate Officer (Communications) who compiles the paper alongside a monthly editorial meeting with the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive.

8. This is not applicable as we do not offer advertising space.

9. Outside of the printers and designers who produce the publication as part of the contract with the Council, the paper is compiled and edited by the Council's Corporate Officer (Communications) as part of the day-to-day duties of the role. The salary of the Corporate Officer (Communications) is a Scale 7 Post (£22,958 to £27,052).

The above post sits within the Programmes and Information Team which is a part of the Organisational Development and Customer Care Service. A copy of the Council's Structure Charts is attached.

Yours sincerely

Kim Hooper

Corporate Officer (Communications)

[email address]

Andrew Bird, BA (Hons), MCIWM, Acting Director of Health, Environment and Leisure