Publicity and Public Relations

HC Deb 13 May 1985 vol 79 cc15-6

35. Mr. Hardy

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the cost of publicity and public relations concerning the Government's involvement in, and responsibility for, overseas development during 1984–85; and how this compares with costs for similar purposes in 1977–78.

The Minister for Overseas Development (Mr. Timothy Raison)

Expenditure on public relations and publicity by and on behalf of the Overseas Development Administration in 1984–85 was £152,400 and in 1977–78 £111,000. Those figures exclude staffing costs. In addition, in 1984–85, £106,000 was spent on development education. In 1977–78 the comparable figure was £185,800.

Mr. Hardy

Do not those figures show that the virtues of our aid programme seem to be becoming more apparent than real?

Mr. Raison

On the contrary, I believe that the virtues of our aid programme are both apparent and real. For example, they are extremely well set out in the annual review, which I instituted two years ago and which I think has been widely appreciated.

Mr. Soames

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on those figures, as well as his Department on the work that it has done in that area. However, will he do more to persuade industrialists of the value of that programme to them? His review was much appreciated by industrialists in my constituency, who were pleased to see how much came back to British industry.

Mr. Raison

I appreciate my hon. Friend's remarks. In fact, we started a new service for British business last year. We now have four-monthly reports of new aid commitments in the pipeline, published in advance through the Export Intelligence Service. That is made available to British business men. We also now have a commercial liaison officer designated within the ODA. I hope that those things will help to improve, if anything, the opportunities for British business that can be found within the aid programme.

Mr. Tom Clarke

Does the Minister agree that the annual review, to which he has just referred, was a somewhat glossy document? Would it not be more appropriate to have a modest presentation reflecting the Government's modest achievements?

Mr. Raison

The presentation of the review and the information in it have been widely appreciated. I think that many people have found it to be of great value.