§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the total amount of newspaper and television advertising spent by the Central Office of Information was placed with the provincial press in the last financial year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. HayhoeThe amount spent by the Central Office of Information on newspaper and television advertising, in the financial year 1983–84, was £22.4 million. Of this £11.4 million was spent on press advertising, of which 6.3 per cent. was spent in the provincial press.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration is being given by the Central Office of Information to increasing the share of Government advertising placed with the provincial press.
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§ Mr. HayhoeThe limited funds available for Government advertising are spent in order to obtain the best possible value for money in terms of the cost of space in relation to the target audience.
Local and provincial newspapers are used whenever a campaign requires a restricted geographical coverage. Such campaigns include support for the local activities of, for example, the blood transfusion service, tax offices, Department of Transport public inquiries, small firms centres, jobcentres, and so on.
The cost of reaching any broad target audience through the provincial press will always be significantly greater than that of using national newspapers. Consequently, for national campaigns, it is COI's practice to use provincial newspapers only in those areas of the country where the respective national newspapers afford a less than adequate coverage of the requisite target audience. On cost-efficiency grounds, COI would be unable to justify increasing the use of the provincial press for Government advertising campaigns beyond the level dictated by local marketing requirements.