§ Mr. GregoryTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been spent by his Department on public safety campaigns encouraging the use of domestic smoke alarms in each of the last five years; how much money is budgeted for the current year; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerThe Home Office first carried out publicity specifically related to smoke alarms in the financial year 1987–88. A breakdown of expenditure for that year and all subsequent years is given in the table.
£ million Year Advertising Other publicity (including print) Total 1987–88 0.50 0.041 0.541 1988–89 0.55 0.115 0.665 1989–90 1.00 0.091 1.091 11990–91 1.05 0.109 1.159 1 Estimated. In 1987, before the Home Office carried out any publicity, research indicated that ownership of domestic smoke alarms in England and Wales was at 6 per cent. Following the national advertising carried out in January 1990, research indicated that ownership had increased to 35 per cent. The Home Office has a target of increasing ownership to 70 per cent. by 1994.