§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the latest figure for the estimated spending in 1988–89 by the National Health Service on(a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material.
§ Mrs. Currie[holding answer 21 July 1988]: The information for regional and district health authorities and family practitioner committees in England is not collected in-year and their annual accounts identify advertising expenditure in total only. For 1986–87 (the latest year available) the annual accounts of health authorities and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals record total expenditure on advertising as £14,089,000 while the accounts of FPCs show £78,000. These costs are predominantly for staff recruitment advertisements in newspapers and professional journals.
The annual accounts of special health authorities and other bodies providing central services to the National Health Service (eg the central blood laboratories authority and the National Health Service training authority) do not
796W
§ Mrs. Currie[holding answer 21 July 1988]: The information requested for the Department and for the Office of Population and Censuses is shown in the tables. The number of staff in statistical divisions of the Government Actuary's is a matter for my right hon. Friend Actuary's department is a matter my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
separately identify expenditure on advertising, but given the size of their total expenditure, any such costs are not thought to be significant.
The Health Education Authority (the successor to the Health Education Council) is currently expected to incur expenditure on health promotional advertising campaigns in 1988–89 as follows:
£0001 Television advertising Nil Radio advertising 450 Newspaper advertising 3,850 Other promotional material 3,200 1Estimated.