HC Deb 17 July 1990 vol 176 cc515-6W
Mr. Robin Cook

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will break down the £2.75 million being spent on publicising the National Health Service and Community Care Act, giving the amount spent on(a) design, (b) production and (c) distribution of the booklet; and if he will give the timetable for distribution;

(2) if work done on the design of the booklet to publicise the National Health Service and the Community Care Act was done by an outside agency; whether tenders were invited for (a) the design and (b) the production of the booklet; and when the decision was taken to produce and distribute 20 million booklets.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The estimated costs for the booklet "The NHS Reforms and You" are:

£
(a) Design costs 24,000
(b) Production costs 1,400,000
(c) Distribution costs 800,000
2,224,000

These costs are for the English version only. The remainder of the £2.75 million will be required for the production and distribution of the shorter version being produced in nine ethnic minority languages for fulfilling requests for further copies of the English version and the "Look After Your Heart" insert. The distribution begins in the week comencing 16 July and is scheduled for completion in the week commencing 13 August. Ninety-two per cent. of households should receive a copy in the first week.

The decision to produce and distribute the booklet was taken on 15 March 1990.

The booklet was designed by an outside agency appointed by tender. The production of the booklet was commissioned by Central Office of Information and HMSO using suppliers approved by them and appointed on their ability to deliver a quality product, on time, at a competitive price.