§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what was the total expenditure on all forms of advertising by his Department and its agencies for each year since 1979, in 1994 prices.
Mr. John M. TaylorExpenditure on all forms of advertising prior to 1987–88 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Expenditure on advertising for each year thereafter is shown in the table. In 1993–94, the way in which expenditure is recorded changed, so the figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95—to December—include all forms of publicity. The Lord Chancellor is responsible for three agencies: Her Majesty's Land Registry, the Public Record Office and the Public Trust Office. As the hon. Member's question concerns specific operational matters, on which the chief executives are best placed to provide answers, I have accordingly asked the chief executives to reply direct.
Year £ 1987–88 6,990 1988–89 5,117 1989–90 6,745 1990–91 5,893 1991–92 24,324 1992–93 16,450 1993–94 78,541 1994–951 80,096 1 To December Note:
1993–94 prices—adjusted by the GDP deflator published 29 November, 1994.
Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 10 February 1995:
I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply to your question about advertising.476W
- 1. The Public Record has spent the following sums (at 1994 prices) on staff recruitment advertising:
- 1986–87: nil
- 1987–88: nil
- 1988–89: nil
- 1989–90: nil
- 1990–91: £28
- 1991–92: £20,666
- 1992–93: £10,326
- 1993–94: £77,392
- 2. In addition to the above figures, since 1991–92 the Office has spent approximately £1,500 per annum advertising its own products for sale.
- 3. Information for earlier years is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, I am confident that any expenditure on advertising in the earlier years would have been occasional and very small.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 10 February 1995:
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:
Year Total advertising costs at 1994 Prices £ 1979–80 59,340 1980–81 12,254 1981–82 14,329 1982–83 9,296 1983–84 5,795 1984–85 6,792 1985–86 11,609 1986–87 19,112 1987–88 47,020 1988–89 94,278 1989–90 45,719 1990–91 24,327 1991–92 6,932 1992–93 15,770 1993–94 16,558 The Registry 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.
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.
Letter from Julia C. Lomas to Mr Malcolm Bruce, dated 10 February 1995:
The Parliamentary Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's response to your parliamentary question listed on 9 February 1995, regarding expenditure on all forms of advertising since 1979.The Public Trust Office does not have a policy of advertising its services and there has been no expenditure on advertising since 1987/88.The office is only obliged to keep expenditure accounts for six years and if any spending took place on advertising prior to 1987/88 this could only be ascertained if available at disproportionate cost.