§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the cost to public funds of the press conference and associated publicity for the Government's inner city initiative announced on 7 March; what part of the charge to public funds is attributable to the cost of providing a blue stage setting and furniture; and how many persons other than civil servants took part in the arrangements.
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§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAbout £34,400, including £4,238 for the stage setting. The document "Action for Cities" costs about £68,970 for a print run of 37,000. The press conference was arranged by the Central Office of Information. This represents a very small part of the Government's expenditure of around £3,000 million on inner cities programmes and the presentation of those programmes is an important part of the process of establishing a partnership with the private sector and local government to help deliver them.