HC Deb 07 September 2004 vol 424 cc982-3W
Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Department spent on press officers in each year since 1996–97, broken down by grade. [184322]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The information requested is set out in the following table.

Staff numbers Spend (£000)
1996–97 19: SCS × 1, SIO × 6.5, IO × 11.5 702
1997–98 20.5: SCS × 1, G7 × 1, SIO × 7.5, IO × 10, AIO × 1 729
1998–99 29.5: SCS × 2, G7 × 2, SIO × 11.5, IO × 10. AIO × 3 969
1999–2000 28: SCS × 2, G7 × 3, SIO × 10, IO × 11, AIO × 2 997
2000–01 28: SCS × 2, G7 × 3.5, SIO × 13.5, IO × 6, AIO × 3 1,307
2001–02 28: SCS × 2, G7 × 4.5, SIO × 9.5, IO × 10, AIO × 2 1,097
2002–03 23.4: SCS × 2, G7 × 3, SIO × 9.5, IO × 7, AIO × 2 1,314
2003–04 18.5: SCS × 2, G7 × 4, SIO × 4.5, IO x 6, AIO × 2 1,120
Key:
SCS—Senior Civil Service
G7—Grade 7
SIO—Senior Information Officer
IO—Information Officer
AIO—Assistant Information Officer

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money the Department spent on(a) advertising and (b) public relations in each year since 1996–97. [184323]

Mr. Charles Clarke

[holding answer 15 July 2004]: Expenditure for both advertising and public relations is listed as follows:

£million
Advertising Public relations
1996–97 8.0 0
1997–98 11.0 0
1998–99 16.8 0.6
1999–2000 12.4 0.1
2000–01 29.7 0.8
2001–02 20.5 1.7
2002–03 11.3 2.4
2003–04 19.5 1.9

As can be seen from the figures, spend on advertising fluctuates from year to year. Some campaigns will run over financial years and billing will fall in the later period. The increase in Public Relations (PR) relates to an increase in the use of external organisations to contact those elements of our key audiences that prove more difficult to reach through traditional advertising methods. Examples of this are in the promotion of adult basic skills, Aimhigher and Connexions. Since 2001–02, the Department has changed its approach by concentrating on having fewer, larger, more focused communications, such as that for adult basic skills (to help adults improve their reading, writing, language and maths) instead of numerous smaller campaigns.