Dear Sir or Madam

REF: 2010/COR0002 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION- INFORMATION REQUEST

I acknowledge your request received on 04 January 2010

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font size, or electronically. If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large print, etc. then please let me know.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

There may a fee payable for this information. This will be considered and you will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

If you have any queries do not hesitate to contact me.

Further information is available from the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, Telephone: 01625 545 700, http://www.ico.gov.uk

Yours faithfully

Alison Ross-Dow
Senior Information Management Officer
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
Information Management Team/Finance & Corporate Services
2nd Floor, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension
King Street
London W6 9JU
DL: 020 8753 2455

www.lbhf.gov.uk

Director of Finance & Corporate Services: Jane West

Dear Sir/Madam

Please see below answers to your FOI request

Yours sincerely
Simon Jones,
Head of Communications
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

-----Original Message-----
From: L Barnett [mailto:[FOI #25933 email]]
Sent: 03 January 2010 17:37
To: FOIRequests
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Council newspaper

Dear Hammersmith & Fulham 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)

H&F News is a newspaper published on a fortnightly basis to
77,000 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

2008/9 (fortnightly publication)
Total cost of newspaper £436,395
Total advertising income: £431,711
Net cost £4684

2009/10 forecast budget

Total cost of newspaper £480,000
Total advertising income: £485,320

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising

Please see answer above

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

2008/9 figures:

Advertising from budgets within council: £183,771
Other public bodies: £52,471
Private advertising £195,469

NB: Vast majority of internal advertising income comes
from public notices which the Council is statutorily
obliged to publish

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

PCT/Metropolitan Police

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

Very little - around 2%

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

The Council is governed by the Code of Recommended
Practice on Local Authority Publicity.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/...

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

Advertising is subject to the same restrictions.

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

Salaried staff costs for 2008/9 were £169,668. Staff costs are attributed from
the overall Communications budget. There are 3.5 FTE, including the
Editor, Production Editor, 1.5 Advertising staff. Overall H&F Council has one
of the lowest communication costs in London.

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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