§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much the Government plans to spend on public information about the National Assembly. [63405]
§ Mr. MichaelInformation will be made available to the public in a number of different ways—through publication of leaflets and documents; via information on the Assembly's web site on the internet; and through the arrangements we are putting in place for broadcasting the Assembly's plenary and committee sessions.
690WProvision for the first year of the Assembly has not yet been finalised. The £580,000 annual cost of the broadcasting contract, which I announced recently, will be shared between the Assembly and the resident broadcasters—BBC Wales Cymru; HTV Wales Cymru and S4C.
Additionally, my department is running an information campaign prior to the first elections for the Assembly. Some £550,000 will be spent on the first phase of this activity.