§ Mr. McCrindleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the television-based advertising campaign for family credit will be launched; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe family credit television campaign started yesterday and will run throughout Great Britain for eight weeks until 7 June. This phase of the campaign will cost 2.3 million. In addition, an outdoor campaign on posters and bus sides will commence throughout Great Britain on 1 May for two months until the end of June. The total cost of this aspect of the campaign will be £1.3 million. A further £;1 million has been allocated for other promotional activities during the remainder of this financial year. These will include providing adequate supplies of leaflets and posters in sub-post offices, community and health centres and other places used frequently by mothers with children.
The campaign emphasises working families' eligibility for family credit, including those with take-home pay levels as high as £175 per week in some cases. It sets out to dispel misconceptions about ineligibility for family credit because of home ownership, self-employment and lone parent status, and points out that it is a weekly tax-free payment and not a loan.
We have already arranged for a copy of the advertising research on which the campaign is based to be placed in the Library.