Dear Blackburn with Darwen Borough 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

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received
on 4 January 2010 and we are dealing with it under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact Sue Smith or
myself on telephone number 01254 585761. Alternatively, our email
address is [Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council request email]

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Hughes
Audit & Assurance Officer (Information Governance)
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
F Floor
Town Hall
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB1 7DY

www.blackburn.gov.uk
[email address]

Telephone: 01254 585 852

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to confirm that the Council has now completed its search for the information which you requested on 3 January 2010. Your questions, with the Council's answers, are 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).

Answer: The council newspaper is called The Shuttle, at the moment it is published nine times a year and distributed to just under 60,000 homes in the borough.

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.

Answer: The budget is £12,700 per edition (includes printing, design and delivery costs). In 2008/09 there were seven editions, we have budgeted for the same per issue for nine issues in 2009/10.

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising?

Answer: The income from advertising for 2008-2009 was £74,821.

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

Less than 10 per cent.

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

NHS Blackburn with Darwen, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire County Council.

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

A small part . We advertise Council jobs.

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 have a style guide (attached), which is currently being reviewed, which touches on some editorial matters. As the Shuttle is currently being reviewed, a new editorial policy will be looked at. The Shuttle is produced to give people information about the work of the Council and its partners. We also try to give that information in a way people can relate to. Before publication we ask our legal department to check each edition to make sure it does not breach the local authority publicity code.

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

Answer: see above. However, we do not take private advertising such as shops and we don't take public notices as we don't wish to undermine our local newspaper.

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

Answer: One person works on it as part of his role but has many other duties. Four other people contribute copy. We do not keep a record of how much time each officer spends on the Shuttle. There is no specific staff organisation chart.

The information supplied to you is protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any noncommercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the council.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to Susan Smith at the address at the bottom of this message. If you are not content with the outcome your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

I have attached a copy of our booklet 'Have your say on Information services'.

If you have any queries about this message please contact me, quoting reference 9611.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Hughes
Audit & Assurance Officer (Information Governance)
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
F Floor
Town Hall
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB1 7DY

www.blackburn.gov.uk
[email address]

Telephone: 01254 585 852

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