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Once there is agreement to publish a parliamentary paper, keep everyone involved informed of progress or any potential issues. Ensure that key contacts, including suppliers, have your up-to-date contact details.

Gather cost estimates or quotes

You should also obtain the necessary sign-off from the budget-holder for the likely total cost of the project.

On request, the paper also needs to be available in Braille, large print, audio or British Sign Language, so include these in the plan and budget.

Establish the project's timeframe

Agree a schedule that allows enough time to circulate and check proofs. Overrunning projects mean greater expense.

Ensure the commissioning agreement assigns the resultant copyright in the document to the Crown

You must do this if an external author is being used to write a report, for example an independent review.

Plan and agree the report's content

  • Does the government organisation have a drafting template or branding guidelines for major reports?
  • Are there graphs, photographs, logos or other items?
  • Do you have permission to use any third party copyright material?
  • If there are photographs of identifiable individuals, have they signed a 'model release'?

Production

Typesetting and printing the document and/or creating print and web PDFs

  • Will the report be printed in colour? Or in black and white (monochrome - which is cheaper than colour)?
  • Identify any professional services required to typeset the document and/or to create print and web PDFs. Is this done in house?
  • Does a summary, or all of the report, need to be translated into Welsh?
  • Is an Easy Read edition required?

Producing papers over 32 pages long

Remember that papers over 32 pages long need a separate cover.

Covers of papers published through the contract must not be laminated. This is because laminated covers are not recyclable.

Allow sufficient time

  • Ensure that there is enough time to proof read the document for typographical and/or other errors before submitting the final file to print
  • Ensure that the suppliers are aware that the paper will be laid in Parliament. This will allow them to better manage their resources to assist
  • Allow time for ministerial submission and clearance. Cross-departmental approvals take longer and need to be factored into the schedule
  • Suppliers and colleagues need to be kept up to date with changes in the schedule. Some schedules may require out-of-hours working, which will change/increase costs and may require another spending approval
  • Please note that due to the practicalities of the print production process there will be a time beyond which a print schedule cannot be reduced further. In addition, while there may be sufficient time to print a paper, during busy times a supplier may not have enough capacity to print and deliver print copies to a fixed deadline, particularly when a paper's sign off has been delayed.

Written Ministerial Statement or Oral Statement

Confirm with the relevant parliamentary unit whether a Written Ministerial Statement or Oral Statement will be used to announce the laying of the document to the House.

Submission to a select committee

Check whether the paper must be submitted to a select committee prior to publication.

Check how many print copies are required

The contractor will supply copies to Vote Offices for MPs at no cost to you, so you don't need to count and pay for MPs' copies unless you have chosen the 'publish-only' option.

How many copies are required by your organisation for laying, its select committee, the organisation's own use and for distributing to stakeholders? Remind colleagues that it is cheaper to email a URL instead of sending everyone a printed copy.

  • Is a cover letter required for stakeholder copies?
  • Is the stakeholder list complete?
  • How will the organisation's printed copies be mailed out?
  • Have the distribution costs been budgeted for?

Publication and despatch

Allow enough time to submit the final file to print, and for printing, binding, packing and despatch of printed copies:

  • If you are not using the publishing contractor to print the document (you have chosen the 'publish-only' option), you need to arrange for the delivery of printed and correctly labelled copies, including those for Vote Offices for MPs, to the publishing contractor's premises. You also need to supply the contractor with the print file, so that the contractor can print additional copies as required
  • If you have procured your own typesetting/design for the Command Paper, you must supply a tagged and bookmarked PDF to the publishing contractor for the Official Documents website

Remember, the paper cannot be published online or otherwise distributed until it has been laid before Parliament and subsequently published. Generally, publication should take place as soon as possible after laying.

The published copy must be exactly the same as the laid version.