asked the Secretary of State for Employment for how long his Department has been circulating a leaflet entitled "DE News"; what is the circulation; and what is the cost to the taxpayer.

The "DE News" is a four-page newspaper for external distribution which was launched in February 1973. It has a circulation of 70,000 copies an issue. The production costs covering printing, paper and administrative handling charges of Her Majesty's Stationery Office for the 12 months ending December 1974 were £10,750. The cost of the editorial staff, who do other work including a number of publications, was for the same period an estimated £3,000. In addition, there is the cost of second-class postage for despatch of the newspaper and the staff time involved. This amounted to about £7,318 over the same period.