HC Deb 23 October 1984 vol 65 cc558-9W
Mr. Straw

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated total cost of his Department's advertising campaign in support of the Rates Act.

Mr. Waldegrave

The estimated cost of the Rates Act advertising and leaflet is approximately £420,000.

Mr. Straw

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a breakdown of the nature and cost of the advertising campaign in support of the Rates Act including (a) the names of newspapers in which advertisements have been or are to be placed, with dates of insertion and size of advertisements, and their cost (b) the number of leaflets, and area of distribution, and their cost, (c) the use of other media, such as poster sites, cinema, and television and radio, and cost, (d) the name of the advertising agency and its total fee, and (e) cost of distribution.

Mr. Waldegrave

(a) The advertisement "Protecting the Ratepayer" was placed in the following national papers in the week beginning 1 October 1984:

Newspaper Date Space
National Dailies
The Times 5 October 38cm × 6 cols
Daily Telegraph 5 October 38cm × 6 cols
National Dailies (Southern Edition only)
Daily Express 4 October Page
Daily Mail 4 October Page
Daily Mirror 4 October Page
Daily Star 4 October Page
The Sun 4 October Page
The Guardian 5 October 38cm × 6 cols
National Sundays (Southern Edition only)
The Mail on Sunday 7 October Page
News of the World 7 October Page
Sunday Express 7 October 38cm × 6 cols
Sunday Mirror 7 October Page
Sunday People 7 October Page
The Observer 7 October 38cm × 6 cols
The Sunday Times 7 October 38cm × 6 cols

During the same week the advertisement also appeared in local papers in all the areas covered by the authorities selected for rate limitation. I have placed a list of those newspapers in the Library. In addition, it has appeared in the The Standard on 11 and 18 October, where it will also appear on 24 October and 1 November. The total cost of the advertisement was approximately £270,000.

(b) Leaflets were distributed to more than 4 million households in the areas of authorities selected for rate limitation. The cost of preparing and printing the leaflets was £42,140.

(c) No other media were used.

(d) The advertisement and leaflet were drafted within my Department. The advertisements were placed through the COI in the normal way.

(e) The cost of distributing the leaflet was £106,490.