Council newspaper

L Barnett made this Freedom of Information request to Kent County Council

The request was successful.

From: L Barnett

3 January 2010

Dear Kent County Council,

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, I wish to
receive the following information from your authority:

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)

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

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising

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

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

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

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

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

Some parts of this request may be easier to answer than others, and
should this prove to be the case I would ask that you release
available data as soon as possible rather than hold up the entire
request.

I would prefer to receive this information electronically. If the
decision is made to withhold some of this data using exemptions in
Act, please inform me of that fact and cite the exemptions used.

If you need any clarification then please contact me at the email.
Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I would
expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in
any way.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have
received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in
the near future.

Yours faithfully,

L Barnett

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Kent County Council

4 January 2010

Dear L Barnett

Thank you for your email.

I acknowledge your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Assuming we hold this information, I will endeavour
to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later
than 1st February 2010 (20 working days from date of receipt).

I will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/10/0001 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

Best regards

Corporate Access to Information Team, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 696265 or 01622 694261 - Fax: 01622 694383
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/your_council/have...

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Kent County Council

3 February 2010

Dear L Barnett

Thank you for your request for information. Please accept my apologies
for the slight delay in responding to you. I appreciate Kent County
Council has not complied with statutory timescales on this occasion.

You asked nine questions about Council newspapers; and the Council*s
response to those questions is 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)

Kent County Council's magazine, Around Kent, is produced twice a year to
inform the residents of Kent about council policy, services and the work
of other public sector partners too. It is published in April
(spring/summer issue) and October (autumn/winter issue) and is delivered
to 650,000 households in the County. The October edition was done in
partnership with Dover District Council and Swale Borough Council. (We
used to publish four issues a year but took the decision to cut back on
this in 2009/10)

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 total Budget was £168,741.00 for the two issues in 2009/10

The Breakdown is as follows:

April 2009

Production and distribution - £85,243

Income from advertising - £5,400.00

October 2009

Production and distribution - £102,448

Income from advertising and other sources - £13,550

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising

£11,950

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

£2000

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

Kent Fire and Rescue placed an advert in October's edition.

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

No, the magazine does not carry recruitment advertising.

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

Around Kent complies with the code of recommended practice on local
authority publicity. Copies are available from the Communities & Local
Government website
[1]http://www.communities.gov.uk/publicatio...

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

As above.

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

There is no additional staff cost to producing Around Kent as it is done
in-house and is included as part of the core day to day work of the
Communications and Media team.

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[2]http://www.kent.gov.uk/your_council/have...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/10/0001.

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner*s website
[3]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

Best regards

Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room B.48, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[4]http://www.kent.gov.uk/your_council/have...

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