Council newspaper

These offices are closed on Friday 1st January. I am out of the office on
Monday 4th January and will respond to emails on my return on Tuesday 5th
January. For urgent items please email David Lowe [email address]
or Stephen Chard [email address]

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Dear Ms Barnett,

The West Berkshire Partnership produces a joint publication ('A Great
Place to Live'). More information on the Partnership can be found here:

http://www.westberkshirepartnership.org/...

While there is not a council newspaper as such since 'A Great Place to
Live' is jointly produced, I can supply joint costs etc for this if this
is of interest.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

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FoI/2010/01

Dear Ms Barnett,

Thank you for your enquiry. Please find the response to your questions
below.

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)

'A great place to live' Three times a year. Distributed by Royal
Mail to all 60,000 homes in the district.. NB: This is not a council
newspaper. It is a magazine of the West Berkshire Partnership so it
includes articles from West Berkshire Council, Thames Valley Police,
Greenham Common Trust, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and
Berkshire West NHS

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

In 2009/10 the total cost of the magazine to print and distribute is
£51,918. The contribution from West Berkshire Council is £22,318.
= 37p per household per year.

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising

None.

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

N/A

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

They don't pay to advertise, they pay a publication contribution.

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

No

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

Â*A great place to liveÂ* magazine

Editorial Guidelines

1. A Great Place to Live is the magazine of the West Berkshire
Partnership. It is currently published three times a year and distributed
to 66,000 homes in West Berkshire by Royal Mail.

2. It is the primary method of communication of the West Berkshire
Partnership, and is the main method of informing the public of the way the
partners work together to deliver local services.

3. Articles should be about activities of the partner organisations,
rather than of the West Berkshire Partnership as an administrative body.

4. The magazineÂ*s success is scientifically measured by the
Â*Place SurveyÂ* for West Berkshire, which is carried out bi-annually by
the GovernmentÂ*s public sector watchdog, the Audit Commission.
Districts throughout the country have similar Â*Place surveysÂ*
conducted for them, designed to establish what people think about the area
they live in, their quality of life, and the local services provided for
them.

5. Content guidelines

o To maximise the number of articles included, each should be no longer
than 300 words.
o Each should focus on highlighting a benefit to the reader of the
service offered.
o Copy needs to be clear, concise and free from jargon, acronyms and
technical wording.
o Each should include contact details at the end for readers to find
out more.

Pictures
Each story, if possible, should be accompanied by a photograph.
Photographs should preferably be of, or taken within, West Berkshire.
Wherever possible, they should feature local residents, local business
people, or people for the partner organisations.
Photos should preferably have been taken by a professional
photographer.
Photographs should be supplied in digital format, and must be a
minimum of 300dpi resolution.
Digital images from websites or embedded in Â*WordÂ* documents will
not be of sufficient quality.

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

N/A

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

The two council staff who do all the work on the magazine are not
specifically employed to do this job. They are Public Relations officers
who carry out the task in addition to their regular duties. More
information on their work can be found here:
[1]http://www.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?a... and I have
attached a structure chart for the Policy and Communication Service.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD

Email: [2][West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

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