Council newspaper

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

The request was successful.

From: L Barnett

3 January 2010

Dear Lancashire 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

Link to this

From: Freedom of Information
Lancashire County Council

15 January 2010

Dear Sir/Madam

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Further to your email dated 3^rd January 2010 in which you request the
disclosure of information under the provisions of the above Act, we are
now in a position to provide you with a response.

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)

Lancashire County Council's newspaper Vision is distributed twice a year
in March and September. We print 500,000 copies and it is available to
every household in our boundary.

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 net cost of Vision is £31,800 per edition, so for 2009/2010 would
total £63,600.

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising

Per edition we take approximately £15,600 in advertising revenue.

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

We only take adverts from other public sector organisations. These are on
an irregular basis and therefore the amounts vary from edition to edition.

We carry a competition in each edition with a prize provided by an
external company - these have included Lancashire companies as a way to
promote local business.

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

In the September 09 edition we carried an advert for the East Lancashire
PCT. Other recent adverts include the Lancashire Safeguarding Children
Board (Feb 09) and the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (Nov 08).

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

None

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?

No editorial policy exists. Decisions on content are taken by the
Communications Team who are responsible for the content.

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

Decisions on advertising are taken by the Communications Team.

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

No one is employed specifically to put Vision together.

We trust that our response is satisfactory, but in the event that you wish
to complain about the manner in which your enquiry has been handled, you
should write in the first instance to The Freedom of Information Officer,
Lancashire County Council, PO Box 78, County Hall, Preston PR1 8XJ, or
email [1][Lancashire County Council request email]

If, after this stage, you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer
the matter to the Information Commissioner, whose contact details are as
follows:

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545700

Email: [2][email address]

Website: [3]http://www.ico.gov.uk

Your request will now be closed as of this date.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information

Lancashire County Council

PO Box 78

County Hall

Preston

PR1 8XJ

Tel: (01772) 531116

Fax: (01772) 530949

Email: [4][Lancashire County Council request email]

show quoted sections

Lancashire, a place where everyone matters

********************

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Lancashire County Council request email]
mailto:[Lancashire County Council request email]
2. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
4. mailto:[Lancashire County Council request email]
mailto:[Lancashire County Council request email]

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Lancashire County Council only: