1. The name, frequency and distribution/circulation of your council newspaper (by council newspaper I mean the most frequently published newspaper or magazine intended for mass distribution covering more than one topic)

Title: NY Times.

Frequency: 11 Times a year.

Distribution: Approximately 300,000 homes and businesses.

2. How much it cost to produce and distribute said newspaper in the last full financial year, and how much was budgeted from council resources in the financial year 2009/2010.

The cost of producing and distributing NY Times in the financial year 2008/2009 was £442,000. The budgeted cost for 2009/2010 is £504,000. The rise results from an increase in printing and distribution costs.

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising

The cost of NY Times is offset by a combination of:

A reduction in external recruitment advertising costs;

A reduction in external publication of statutory notices;

Savings made by units within the County Council using NY Times to publicise services and information that would otherwise require separate publications;

Charges made to public sector partners using NY Times in a similar way; and

A small amount of external commercial advertising.

The figure for advertising quoted in answer to question 4 offsets part of the costs. In 2008/09, a further £18,000 came from internal advertising by units within the council. Costs are further offset by the other elements listed above. While some of these are advertising, others are statutory obligations or information the council needs to publicise. Non-production of NY Times would result in the Council incurring costs to meet these obligations and requirements. Such costs would be at least as great as the cost of producing NY times.

For example, each time the council needed to communicate with all residents, it would cost about £30,000 to deliver information door to door. Examples in recent issues of NY Times include:

NY Times not only enables the County Council to meet its obligation to publish statutory notices and its need to advertise vacancies for County Council positions, it also allows it to meet its duty to consult, to engage and to promote democracy efficiently and effectively to all residents of the county. In addition, other public bodies, such as the police, fire and rescue service and primary care trust, which have a duty to publicise certain information, have done so through NY Times. Again, this could save them in the region of £30,000 for each one-off countywide distribution.

4. How much of that advertising, if any, comes from external sources (ie not from your authority's budgets)?

Revenue from external advertising (which includes commercial businesses and public sector organisations other than the county council) during the last full financial year - 2008/09 - was £24,814. This is expected to have increased in 2009/10, largely due to more public sector partners making use of NY Times.

5. Which other public sector partners pay to run advertising in your newspaper, eg PCTs?

Public sector partners paying for space in NY Times have included:

Police authority

Fire and rescue service

Probation service

PCT

North Yorkshire Sport partnership

6. Whether recruitment advertising forms part of the advertising in your newspaper?

Recruitment advertising for vacancies within North Yorkshire County Council does appear in NY Times.

7. A copy of an editorial policy guide, if one exists, which governs the material which is placed in the newspaper, and how it is decided

There is no written editorial policy. Potential content is judged on its merits by an editorial board of senior officers and councillors.

8. A copy of an advertising policy guide, if one exists, which governs what sort of advertising is suitable.

There is no written advertising policy. Any requests for advertising space are judged on their merits by the editorial board of senior officers and councillors.

9. The number of people employed to put your newspaper/newsletter together, including total cost and staff organisation chart

NY Times is written and designed by one full-time member of staff, who is based in the communications unit. Other members of the communications team may contribute to the production of NY Times as an addition to their designated roles. The staffing cost per issue is £4,635.