§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list each public opinion survey commissioned by(a) his Department and (b) his agencies since 1 October 1992, showing for each the subject, objectives, total cost, the period in which it was conducted and the organisation from which it was commissioned.
§ Mr. SproatMy Department has not conducted any public opinion surveys since October 1992.
Since 1988, the Historic Royal Palaces Agency has undertaken an annual summer visitor survey, to provide valid and reliable research data to inform management decisions regarding the development of visitor facilities. In 1993 the survey was conducted by MEW Research and in 1994 by CC&C Research Ltd. In addition, HRPA has also commissioned research among visitors to monitor performance in relation to its visitors charters. In 1992–93 the research was conducted by Numbers M R Ltd. and from then on by Vital Statistics.
The Royal Parks Agency has commissioned the centre for leisure and tourism studies at the university of North London to undertake market research on all royal parks over a three-year period starting in January 1994. The survey is designed to obtain a visitor profile and seek visitors' views on services and facilities available in the parks.
The fees paid for those surveys are a matter of commercial confidentiality and therefore cannot be disclosed.