HC Deb 05 April 1995 vol 257 cc1162-6W
Mrs. Ann Taylor

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list, for 1992–93 and 1993–94, separate figures for the spending by his Department on(a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising, (d) other promotions materials and activities, (e) the totals in each year of (a) to (d) and (f) the proportion of (e) that was spent on recruitment advertising, and what are his latest estimates for the years 1994–95 and 1995–96. [17629]

Mr. John M. Taylor

Expenditure on all forms of advertising and publicity, and separate figures for recruitment advertising, are given in the table. The recruitment advertising figures are only for recruitment carried out centrally. Recruitment is also carried out locally but costs are not separately identifiable. It is not possible to identify separate figures for the different types of advertising. The figures include costs for the Court Service, which became an agency on 3 April 1995.

Year Total advertising and publicity1 Recruitment advertising Recruitment as percentage of total
1992–93 51,901 36,209 70
1993–94 126,195 47,744 38
1994–95 (provisional) 152,412 45,341 30
1995–96 (plan) 191,650 52,650 27
1 Including recruitment.

Mrs. Ann Taylor

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list each non-departmental public body and agency for which he has responsibility and, for each, list separate figures for the spending by that body or agency on(a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising, (d) other promotional materials and activities, (e) the totals in each year of (a) to (d), and (f) the proportion of (e) that was spent on recruitment advertising, for each year since 1979–80 or for each year of its existence if it has been created since then; and what are his latest estimates of (a) to (f) for the years 1994–95 and 1995–96. [17630]

Mr. John M. Taylor

A list of the non-departmental public bodies and agencies is set out below. In relation to the non-departmental public bodies for which the Lord Chancellor has responsibility, the following information is available:

Legal Aid Board (created in 1989 Publicity budget for publicising the legal aid scheme:

  • 1989–90: £103,000
  • 1990–91: £150,000
  • 1991–92: £132,000
  • 1992–93: £234,000
  • 1993–94: £140,000
  • 1994–95: £185,000

The planned expenditure for 1995–96 is £243,750. No figure has yet been planned for 1996–97. Publicity in this area is carried out, almost exclusively, by way of leaflets and posters for the general public.

Information on recruitment advertisements is available only from 1992–93:

  • 1992–93: £215.731
  • 1993–94: £135,259
  • 1994–95: £252,359 (estimate)

Law Commission Apart from 1992–93, expenditure was all on recruitment
Newspapers £ Other (D) £ Total £
1986–87 11,500 NIL 1,500
1987–88 11,700 NIL 1,700
1988–89 12,100 NIL 2,100
1989–90 12,400 1500 2,900
1990–91 13,000 11,000 4,000
1991–92 13,500 11,250 4,750
1992–93 3,783.50 25,408.25 29,191.75

Law Commission Apart from 1992–93, expenditure was all on recruitment
Newspapers £ Other (D) £ Total £
1993–94 3,838.73 2,067.33 5,906.06
1994–95 4,816.18 2,145.87 6,962,05
1995–963 4,500 2,000 6,500
1 Best estimate: figures prior to 1986–87 are not available and until 1992 were not distinguished from miscellaneous expenditure.
2 Includes a Law Commission brochure.
3 Estimate.

Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct (created in 1991) The only expenditure has been on newspaper advertising for the recruitment of staff. The figures are:

  • 1991–92: £4,917.19
  • 1992–93: £7,013.36
  • 1993–94: £11,195.98
  • 1994–95: £11,200 (estimate)

The other NDPBs either do not incur such expenditure or the cost is included in departmental figures.

The Lord Chancellor is responsible for four agencies: the Court Service, Her Majesty's Land Registry, the Public Record Office and the Public Trust Office. The Court Service, which came into operation as an agency on 3 April 1995, is covered in the answer to the question about this Department. As the question concerns specific operational matters on which the chief executives of the other three agencies are best placed to provide answers, I have accordingly asked the chief executives to reply direct.

NON-DEPARTMENTAL PUBLIC BODIES

Executive Bodies

  • Legal Aid Board
  • Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board (now inactive)

Advisory Bodies

  • Insolvency Rules Committee
  • County Court Rule Committee
  • Supreme Court Rule Committee
  • Land Registration Rule Committee
  • Family Proceedings Rule Committee
  • Crown Court Rule Committee
  • Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax
  • Advisory Committee on JPs in England (excluding the Duchy of Lancaster) and Wales
  • Judicial Studies Board
  • Advisory Council on Public Records
  • Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct
  • Council on Tribunals
  • Law Commission
  • Northern Ireland Court Service—
  • Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax (NI)
  • Advisory Committees on JPs in Northern Ireland
  • Advisory Committees on Juvenile Court Lay Panel
  • Legal Aid Advisory Committee (NI)

TRIBUNALS

  • Immigration Appeal Tribunal and Adjudicators
  • Lands Tribunal
  • Pensions Appeal Tribunal
  • Valued Added Tax Tribunal
  • Transport Tribunal
  • General Commissioners of Income Tax

AGENCIES

  • Court Service
    • 1165
  • Her Majesty's Land Registry
  • The Public Record Office
  • The Public Trust Office

Letter from S. Hutcheson to Mrs. Ann Taylor, dated 4 April 1995: The Parliamentary Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department's response to your Parliamentary question, listed on 28 March 1995, regarding the cost of advertising and promotional activities. The Public Trust Office has not spent any money on (a) television or (b) radio advertising since 1979. Expenditure on (c) newspapers advertising has been limited to the advertising of senior management posts which cost a total of £19,891.58 in 1994–95. Prior to 1994 recruitment was undertaken centrally by the Lord Chancellor's Department and no separate figures are available for the Public Trust Office. The cost of (d), other promotional materials and activities, including the design and printing the Framework Document, Corporate and Business Plans in 1994 prior to the launch of the Public Trust Office as an Executive Agency, was £10,980. The cost of producing and publishing pamphlets in 1994 (including Charter Statements, explanatory booklets and leaflets sent to our customers) was £37,500. There have been no other promotional activities. Figures for each year since 1979 will have been subsumed within other budgets and the information required can only be provided at a disproportionate cost. The figures for 1994–95 are those quoted in the paragraph above. The cost of producing Corporate and Business Plans in 1995–96 is currently being researched but is not expected to exceed £5,000. The production and design of Charter Statements, explanatory booklets and leaflets for 1995–96 has yet to be tendered and the cost cannot, therefore, be quantified at present.

Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mrs. Ann Taylor, dated 5 April 1995:

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: EXPENDITURE ON ADVERTISING I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply to your question relating to advertising by the Public Record Office. (a)/(b) The Public Record Office has not advertised on television or radio.

The following table shows:

  1. (c) the amounts spent on newspaper advertising;
  2. (d) the approximate amounts spent on other promotional materials and activities;
  3. (e) the totals of (c) and (d);
  4. (f) the proportions of (e) spent on recruitment and advertising.

Year (c) Newspaper advertising £ (d) Promotional activities £ (e) Total £ (f) Recruitment proportion Per cent.
1986–87 Nil Nil Nil Nil
1987–88 Nil Nil Nil Nil
1988–89 Nil Nil Nil Nil
1990–91 28 Nil 28 100
1991–92 20,666 1,500 22,166 93
1992–93 10,326 1,500 11,826 87
1993–94 77,392 1,500 78,892 98

Information for earlier years is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Our latest estimates for 1994–95 and 1995–96 are:
1994–95 1995–96
a) television nil nil
b) radio nil nil

1994–95 1995–96
c) newspaper £70,000 £44,500
d) other promotional £1,500 £1,500
e) totals £71,500 £46,000
f) recruitment proportion 98 per cent. 98 per cent.

Letter from John Manthorpe to Mrs. Ann Taylor, dated 5 April 1995:

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: EXPENDITURE ON ADVERTISING IN HM LAND REGISTRY I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question concerning total expenditure by HM Land Registry on all forms of advertising for each year since 1979. I can provide the following information:

  1. a) television advertising—nil;
  2. b) radio advertising—nil;

The following table answers your questions c), d), e) and f):

Year Total advertising costs £ Recruitment per cent.
1979–80 23,696 48
1980–81 5,789 37
1981–82 7,425 46
1982–83 5,160 49
1983–84 3,365 36
1984–85 4,143 43
1985–86 7,470 43
1986–87 12,669 90
1987–88 32,828 99
1988–89 70,226 99
1989–90 36,434 95
1990–91 20,940 96
1991–92 6,342 66
1992–93 15,002 1
1993–94 16,233 0
1994–95 (forecast) 30,000 0
1995–96 (budget) 35,000 0

The Registry's major expenditure on advertising has been for staff recruitment, particularly to meet the property boom of the late 1980's; for advertising in connection with the registration of high value transactions (until 1980); and to give effect to a continuing statutory requirement concerning the replacement of Land and Charge Certificates.

The advertising costs shown in the table all relate to newspaper advertising apart from the years 1992–93 onwards where costs for staging exhibitions and displays are also included. These costs are subsumed within the total budget and cannot be separated.

I do hope that this answers the points raised with the Parliamentary Secretary but please contact me if I can be of any further assistance.

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