HC Deb 26 November 1993 vol 233 cc258-62W
Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the initial print number of his coloured consultative document on London and its approximate cost; what plans he has for further printing; and what are the current and future means of its distribution or availability to(a) official bodies and (b) the public.

Mr. Gummer

Two hundred and fifty thousand copies of the document were printed, each of which contains a questionnaire. Fifty thousand separate questionnaires were also printed. The cost of producing the document and questionnaire, including distribution and publicity, will amount to an estimated £168,000. Decisions on printing extra copies will depend on the demand for the document. Copies were distributed initially through theEvening Standard network and sent to a wide range of London organisations. Copies are available by writing to the Department of the Environment, PO Box 151, London E15 2HF.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration was given by his Department to ensure that the distribution and circulation of the questionnaire accompanying the document "London, Making the Best Better" would provide a statistically representative sample of the views of all sections of the London population; if he intends to weight the responses to the questionnaire in any way to provide a statistically representative sample of the London population; and whether he sought outside professional advice as to whether the questions in the questionnaire were likely to provide data which could be relied upon for the purposes of making decisions.

Mr. Gummer

Two hundred thousand copies of the document were distributed fromEvening Standard outlets across London. The aim was to reach as many people as possible who have opinions and ideas and to give them a chance to put their point of view to me. In addition, copies are being sent to a wide range of organisations and to anyone who requests them. The distribution method was not intended to provide a statistically representative sample. We will, of course, analyse the responses in terms of age and geographical distribution and these results will be published.

The survey was piloted by MORI and was subsequently modified to make some of the questions clearer. MORI commented that reactions to the pilot survey were very positive: many were pleased to have been invited to take part and were keen to express their views.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the precise method and criteria by which he intends to collate and publish responses to the questionnaire accompanying the document "London, Making the Best Better".

Mr. Gummer

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him earlier today. I will publish a digest of the responses in due course.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table giving separate expenditure breakdowns for(a) the questionnaire accompanying the document "London, Making the Best Better" and (b) the document, "London, Making the Best Better", without the questionnaire, broken down into (i) the total number produced, (ii) the total cost of typesetting, (iii) the total cost of layout and printing, (iv) the total cost of paper and assorted materials and (v) the total cost of distribution.

Mr. Gummer

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him earlier today. Design and typesetting costs were £31,500 for the document, and £500 for the questionnaire. Two hundred and fifty thousand copies of the document and questionnaire were printed and are being distributed together, so it is not possible to separate the costs of each. The cost of printing the 50,000 separate questionnaires was £1,500.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration was given to including London zoo in the list of London attractions for which public approval was sought in the questionnaire accompanying "London, Making the Best Better."

Mr. Gummer

It was not possible to include every London attraction by name in the questionnaire but space is provided for people to name aspects of London which they appreciate. London zoo is mentioned on page 42 of the document.

Mr. Raynsford

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the cost of his consultation paper "London: Making the Best Better" in (i) staff time involved in research and preparation of text, (ii) photography and artwork, (iii) printing, (iv) distribution, (v) publicity and (vi) all other expenses.

Mr. Gummer

There was no dedicated team set up solely to prepare the document. My Department's London policy unit co-ordinated the preparation of the document alongside its other duties; the estimated salary and superannuation costs of their time spent on the document amounts to about £18,000. Staff in other parts of my Department and in nine other Departments contributed to the draft. It would be impossible to quantify the total staff time involved.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) today for details of other costs incurred in producing the document.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the final date by which responses to the questionnaire accompanying the document, "London, Making the Best Better" have to be received in order to be considered valid by his Department;

(2) by what date he will publish the full results of the questionnaire accompanying the document "London, Making the Best Better;"

(3) by what date he will publish his response to the results of the questionnaire accompanying the document, "London, Making the Best Better."

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 25 November 1993]: I want to give people plenty of time to respond to the questionnaire or to write to me, so I have not at this stage set a final date for responses; therefore, I cannot yet give a date for the timing of publication of the results. Clearly no one could reasonably set such dates without knowing in advance the number of responses.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list each individual and organisation consulted in advance about the contents of the document, "London, Making the Best Better"; what form the consultations took; and if he will place all written material received by his Department as a result of such consultations in the Library.

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 25 November 1993]: My officials and I have been in contact with a large number of organisations to discuss London issues, including input to the document. In addition, nine other Government Departments were involved, most of them consulting outside organisations as appropriate. It would be impossible to list all the contacts made and organisations involved.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement setting out the full criteria by which his Department will consider responses to the consultation document, "London, Making the Best Better"; and on what grounds responses to the document may be considered invalid.

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 25 November 1993]: No rigid criteria have been set. The intention is to analyse all the responses, using the framework of the six questions in the questionnaire.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list each individual and organisation sent an advance copy of the document "London, Making the Best Better"; and on what dates advance copies were sent to each organisation.

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 25 November 1993]: Advance embargoed copies of the document were given on 19 November to two of the organisations which assisted with input to the document, London First and the London Boroughs Association. The Evening Standard, which distributed the document, also received copies on l8 and 19 November.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make available for public inspection all responses to the document, "London, Making the Best Better", including those deemed by his Department to be invalid.

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 25 November 1993]: No. Individual responses to the questionnaire will be treated in confidence.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the total cost of production and distribution of the document, "London, Making the Best Better", broken down into(a) total number produced, (b) total cost of typesetting, (c) total cost of layout and printing, (d) total cost of paper and assorted materials, (e) total cost of distribution, (f) total cost of uses of photographic and other copyright, (g) individual total numbers and costs of all advance and accompanying press releases, operational notes to the press and advance advertising in the press and (h) the total cost of the press launch.

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 25 November 1993]: Two hundred and fifty thousand copies of the document were produced, each of which contains a questionnaire. A further 50,000 separate copies of the questionnaire were printed. Costs to date are as follows:

>£
Design and typesetting 32,000
Paper and printing 69,700
Distribution to date 33,400
Photographic rights to date 6,100
Press releases and advertising 1,700
Press launch 500
Questionnaire pilot survey 4,500
Further costs of some £20,000 might be incurred in sending out copies of the document and questionnaire in response to requests, in final design costs, and in additional freepost charges for the questionnaire.

One invitation—operational note—was sent out to the press and two press notices were issued;550 copies of each were produced. There were two advertisements in the Evening Standard.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date or dates legal advice was either sought from or given by(a) Government legal advisers or (b) other legal advisers, on the content of drafts of the document, "London, Making the Best Better"; and if he will place copies of all legal advice thereby obtained in the Library.

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 25 November 1993]: It was not necessary to seek legal advice on the document.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table giving a breakdown of the timetable for production of the document, "London, Making the Best Better", including the specific dates on which (a) the initial departmental decision was formally taken to produce the document, (b) instructions were given to civil servants to begin preparation of initial draft, (c) the initial draft was completed, (d) the initial draft was considered by Ministers, (e) amendments were made to the initial draft, (f) the final draft was completed, (g) the final draft was considered by Ministers and (h) the final draft was considered by the Cabinet.

Mr. Gummer

[holding answer 25 November 1993]: The decision to produce the document was taken by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on London on 22 July, and officials began preparation of the draft document immediately thereafter. Drafts of each section were produced by the Departments concerned and considered by Ministers at various times during September and October, and amendments continued to be made to the draft during that period. The final draft was circulated to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on London on 19 October.