§ 2. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now make a statement on the effectiveness of the drink-drive publicity campaign in the light of the control system used over the Christmas and new year period, when such campaigns were confined to certain areas of the United. Kingdom.
§ The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. David Howell)The results of the evaluation of the Christmas and new year drink-drive publicity campaign are not yet available. They are expected shortly.
§ Mr. RobertsDoes the Secretary of State accept that this whole thing is a statistical control system gone mad? Does he realise that if there is evidence from this inquiry that the drink-drive campaign was successful, the implication is that in areas where it was not shown over the Christmas-new year period there may have been accidents, or even deaths, due to drunken driving?
§ Mr. HowellThe campaign took place in all areas. It occurred in some areas at Christmas, while in other areas it was deferred until February. As a lot of expenditure is involved, it is important that such compaigns are cost effective. There are many other competing claims for funds for advertising of this kind, and it is important to make them cost effective. That was the purpose. As soon as we have the results we shall be able to evaluate them and make future campaigns more effective.