asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of producing the 1987 edition of the booklet, "British Defence Policy;" when they were printed; what was the print-run for 1987 and 1986; what was the cost for each year; and how many copies of the edition prior to 1987 remain undistributed.

The cost of producing the 1987 edition of the booklet, "British Defence Policy," is £72,766 including VAT but excluding staff costs and the costs of distribution. 85,000 are being printed, of which 5,000 were delivered from the printer on 5 May, 20,000 on 14 May, and the remainder will be delivered by the end of May. On the same basis of costing, the 1986 edition cost £54,082 and had a print-run of 35,000 of which at 5 May 1987 there were about 150 undistributed. There was also an outstanding demand for over 35,000.