§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the total real terms expenditure of her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on publicity in each of the years(a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000, (d) 2000–01 and (e) 2001–02 (i) to date and (ii) as estimated for the whole of the present year; and if she will break these figures down to indicate expenditure on (A) advertising and (B) press and public relations. [36160]
§ Clare ShortExpenditure in relation to paid publicity in the years in question was as follows:
£000 1997–98 410 1998–99 697 1999–2000 880 2000–01 1,487 2001–021 1,194 2001–022 1,410 1 To date 1 Estimated The annual totals given include expenditure on departmental publications, exhibitions, visits and displays, photography, video production and internet services. The increase over the period reflects our commitment to greater openness, as well as to promoting greater public awareness and understanding of international development issues.
We hold a separate budget for Press Office running costs (other than salary costs), for which expenditure in the years in questions was:
£000 1998–99 70 1999–2000 151 2000–01 119 2001–021 126 2001–022 175 1To date 2Estimated Figures for 1997–98 are not obtainable without involving disproportionate cost.
DFID does not hold a specific advertising budget. However the bulk of our paid advertising relates to recruitment advertising in newspapers and journals, costing around £l million a year.