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L Barnett Date: 12^th January 2010

Email: [FOI #26111 email] Our ref: FOI.10.6122

Dear Sir/Madam

Freedom of Information Request

I refer to your recent Freedom of Information Request and can confirm the following information: -

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)

The Council publication is called Onview, which is produced between four and six times per year and distributed to approximately 69,000 households.

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

2008/2009

Each publication costs £22,000 to produce.

There were five editions and the total cost was £110,000.

2009/2010

Approximately £80,000 was budgeted for the 2009/2010 financial year.

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising

There was £23,500 advertising income in 2008/2009.

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

In 2008/2009, £10,500 came from external sources.

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

The PCT, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and Northumbria Police have previously advertised.

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

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

We do not have a policy guide as the content is agreed with the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council. The Council follows the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity.

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

We do not have a policy guide as all adverts are agreed with the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council. And any potentially unsuitable adverts are checked with the legal service.

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

The production of the magazine involves the time of the Marketing Team Leader, Communications Assistant and an Internal Designer. The total cost of these positions is not included as part of the overall costs as the work is only a small proportion of their full time roles.

I hope this information is of assistance to you.

Copyright procedure

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use this information for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and news reporting. Any other re-use of this information, for example commercial publication requires the permission of the Council as the Copyright holder. All re-use requests will be treated under the Re-Use of Public Information Regulation 2006.

Appeal procedure

Should you wish to appeal against the decision made about this matter you can write to the Records Management Team Leader to have your case reviewed by our Internal Review Panel. This should be sent to us within four weeks and must clearly state the reasons for your appeal and your FOI reference number. The Records Management Team address is as follows: Records Management Team, Town Hall and Civic Buildings, Westoe Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE33 2RL.

Information Commissioner's office (ICO)

Should you remain dissatisfied, you can appeal against our final decision by writing to the Information Commissioner to have your case independently reviewed.

The Information Commissioner is the Government's Independent Body responsible for overseeing the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Please do note that the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the Council's internal appeal procedures. All correspondence to the ICO must quote the Council's reference number and your reasons for your appeal.

The ICO's contact details are as follows: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF. More information can be found on the ICO's website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.

If you have any further queries about this matter then please do not hesitate to contact me on the number below:

Yours sincerely

Lynda Fothergill

Head of Communications

Tel: 0191 424 7522

Email: [email address]