§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 2 April 2003,Official Report, column 767W, on marketing budgets, if she will place evaluations of the campaigns funded in the Library. [124722]
§ Mr. BradshawRegarding general consumer information on organic food, no evaluation is available since the possibility of providing such information is still under consideration. As was said in the response to the question from the Member for Bridgwater, direct funding is not available from Defra to support advertising campaigns.
On the marketing of organic and other quality agricultural products under the Rural Enterprise Scheme, funding is offered to individual businesses or representative organisations to assist with marketing initiatives. These projects are commercial in nature and the information is treated as confidential. Expected outcomes from these, and all other Rural Enterprise Scheme projects, are considered as part of the scheme's application assessment process against published aims for the scheme and to ensure that the Government investment achieves good value for money. The performance of each project is monitored during its lifetime to ensure agreed output targets are achieved. The effectiveness of RES support will be evaluated as part of Defra's normal policy evaluation programme.
Certain information on individual awards made under the Rural Enterprise Scheme can be provided by Defra on request. More detailed information about projects which are likely to be of particular public interest are announced through Defra News Releases, available on the Government News Network website.