§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total cost is of the "Your countryside, You're welcome"(a) launch and (b) campaign. [43082]
Alun Micheal[pursuant to his reply, 20 March 2002, c. 380]: In my reply to hon. Member on 20 March, I said that the cost of the PR activity to support "Your 836W countryside, Your welcome" was £209,000. I have now received information about other public funds which supported the campaign.
In addition to the £209,000 spent directly by DEFRA referred to in my previous answer, the Countryside Agency has paid £371,000 for regional advertising, and £10,000 towards the development of www.yourcountryside.info—the website for "Your countryside, You're welcome" campaign. The English Tourism Council also spent £8,500 on consumer research and £18,000 on a special publication of "Hidden England". These figures do not include in-house staff costs, nor do they include any expenditure by the over 100 non-governmental organisations involved in the campaign. I am sorry that my original answer referred only to direct expenditure by DEFRA itself.