HC Deb 11 June 1986 vol 99 cc190-1W
Mr. Peter Bruinvels

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will report on progress in his recent initiative to discourage drinking and driving during the summer months.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

The publicity focus on drinking and driving will continue until the end of the month. It has been welcomed by the police and others as a significant step forward in increasing public awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving throughout the year. It is too soon to assess the full impact of the campaign, but the initial response is encouraging. Over 400,000 copies of our leaflet "The Facts about Drinking and Driving" have been distributed and our free telephone information service has so far received over 3,000 inquiries on the subject.

Mr. Peter Bruinvels

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is his budget for deterring people from drinking and driving during the summer months; and if he will break it down into newspaper advertising, television advertising and local radio advertising, respectively.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

The Department's publicity budget for reminding people of the dangers and penalties of drinking and driving during the summer months totals £793,470.

Of this, £473,000 is devoted to outdoor posters; £124,000 to press advertising and £131,000 to radio advertising. There is no expenditure on television advertising.

The balance of the expenditure is devoted to complementary print material, the costs of a public telephone inquiry service and evaluation research.