Durham County News

The request was successful.

Dear Durham County Council,

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request that information be published detailing how much in total it costs to prepare, produce and distribute the pamphlet, "Durham County News". I would appreciate figures for the years 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and the projected figure for 2010-2011. Could I also ask how many people are employed by the council to prepare, produce and distribute the newsletter.

Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

S Bainbridge

Freedom of Information,

Our Ref: 4175435

15-SEP-10

Dear S Bainbridge,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

I acknowledge your request for information received on 15-SEP-2010.

Your request is being considered and if the information requested is held
by the County Council it will be sent to you 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 will be provided in paper copy, normal
font size. 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 that may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the exempt
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.

There may a fee payable for this information to cover photocopying,
postage and any other production costs. 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.

In line with the Information Commissioner's directive on the disclosure of
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 your request will
form part of our disclosure log. Therefore, a version of our response
which will protect your anonymity will be posted on Durham County Council
website.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact:

The Information Management Team

Durham County Council

Assistant Chief Executive's Office

Room 4/140

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Tel: 0191 372 8371

Email: [1][Durham County Council request email]

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [email address]

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Tracy Laws

Tracy Laws

Information Management Assistant

Information Management Team

Room: 4/410

County Hall

Durham DH1 5UF

Tel: 0191 372 8376

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Neale Boswell,

Our Ref: 4175435

20-SEP-10

Dear S Bainbridge,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - RESPONSE TO REQUEST

Your request for information on Durham County Council's `County Durham
News', received on 15-SEP-2010, has now been considered.

You requested: Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, I would
like to request that information be published detailing how much in total
it costs to prepare, produce and distribute the pamphlet, "Durham County
News".

1) I would appreciate figures for the years 2008-2009

Our Response - Durham County Council did not start to produce Durham
County News until May 2009 following reorganisation. The combined spend of
the 7 former district and county councils for each of their corporate
newsletters was £493,900

2) 2009-2010

Our Response - Durham County News was produced 10 times at a cost of
£366,400 a saving of £127,500 on 2008/09. This includes design, print
and distribution.

3) The projected figure for 2010-2011.

Our Response - For 2010-2011, the cost will £361,542

4) Could I also ask how many people are employed by the council to
prepare, produce and distribute the newsletter?

Our Response - There is the equivalent of two full time members of staff
who are responsible for the publication and each spend about 40% of their
time on Durham County News preparing and agreeing the content. In
addition one graphic designer spends approximately 20% of their time
producing the artwork. The distribution and printing is done through an
external contract.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact:

The Information Management Team

Durham County Council

Assistant Chief Executive's Office

Room 4/140

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Tel. 0191 372 8371

Email: [1][Durham County Council request email]

After you have exhausted our internal appeals procedure you also have a
right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [email address]

Most of the documents that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most
cases the copyright will be owned by Durham County Council. The copyright
in other documents may be owned by another person or organisation, as
indicated on the documents themselves.

You are free to use any documents supplied for your own use, including for
non-commercial research purposes. The documents may also be used for the
purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, by publishing the documents or issuing copies to the public will
require the permission of the copyright owner.

For documents where the copyright is owned by Durham County Council,
please contact me for details of the conditions on re-use.

For documents where the copyright is owned by another person or
organisation, you would need to apply to the copyright owner to obtain
their permission.

Yours sincerely,

Neale Boswell

Information Management

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