§ Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what instructions have been issued to Government Departments about the use of outside public relations and advertising companies for publicity purposes.
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§ Mr. BrookeNo new instructions have been issued. Public relations services for the Government are provided by the official information service. It has been the practice of successive Administrations not to contract public relations consultancies except occasionally for highly specialised purposes. Government advertising campaigns are contracted through the Central Office of Information to commercial advertising agencies which are selected to compete for Government business on the basis of advice from the independent Advisory Committee on Advertising.