HC Deb 22 March 1995 vol 257 cc275-81W
Mr. Donohoe

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the employment of polling or public survey organisations by his Department during the current and previous financial

Subject Period conducted Contractor commissioned Objectives
Environment Department
Survey of Homeless Applicants June-July 1993 Public Attitude Surveys Ltd To examine the operation of the code of guidance on homelessness.
Edinburgh Castle Visitors Survey (Historic Scotland) May-December 1993 System Three Scotland To provide information on visitors to The Castle, their attitudes to services and facilities and to identify priorities for improving these facilities.
Baseline study of good practice in housing management 1994 Public Attitude Surveys Ltd To provide a description of housing management practice in Scotland as a baseline against which to measure implementation of the tenants charter.
Awareness of Right to Buy and Rents to Mortgages March-April 1994 System Three Scotland To identify tenants' awareness of right to buy schemes.
Public Knowledge and Perception of Local Government September 1994 The MVA Consultancy To ascertain current public knowledge and awareness of local government, public perceptions of remoteness accessibility and their identification with local government units as a baseline for monitoring change.
Rural Community Development Study February 1994 System Three Scotland To provide a baseline picture of life in four representative rural areas in order to monitor change and the impact of rural policy initiatives.
Water and Sewerage March/August 1994 Market Research Scotland To test the comprehensibility of the design and contents of the information leaflet; to evaluate recall of the contents and purpose of leaflet.
Sustainable Development September 1994 The MVA Consultancy To investigate public awareness and understanding of the concept of sustainable development.
Evaluation of GRO-Grants November 1994—March 1995 Centre for Housing Research and Urban Studies, Glasgow University To assess the extent to which GRO-grants have met their objectives.
Awareness of Right to Buy and Rents to Mortgages Schemes February 1995 System Three Scotland To determine the level of awareness among tenants of the RTB and RTM schemes.
Rural Transport Study March-April 1995 The TAS Partnership To establish the type and range of rural transport options and consider how they could be pursued more effectively in rural Scotland.
Home and Health Department
Survey of users' experiences of the NHS in Scotland November-December 1992 MORI Ltd To measure how well the commitments in the patients charter were being delivered and whether the standards of service met expectations of the users.

years, on the organisations employed by his Departments, on the values of individual contracts for these services, on the total amounts of money spent and on the purposes of the research undertaken by these organisations. [14512]

Mr. Lang

[holding answer 20 March 1995]: The information requested is shown in the table. The fee paid to individual contractors is commercially confidential and therefore cannot be detailed. The total cost of the 40 surveys listed was £1.153 million.

Subject Period conducted Contractor commissioned Objectives
Car Crime November 1992 Research Resources To determine amongst car users the steps taken to prevent car crime; their perception of car crime compared with other crimes; awareness and effectiveness of the "Hyena" campaign.
Scottish Crime Survey December 1992—December 1993 The MVA Consultancy Provide alternative indicator of the level and extent of household and personal victimisation in Scotland; provide information about public perceptions and experiences of crime and the criminal justice system more generally.
Fire Prevention February/March 1993—February 1994 Research Resources To measure awareness and understanding of the television commercial and assess the impact of the commercial in motivating householders to maintain their smoke alarms.
Information Needs of Victims January-August 1994 The MVA Consultancy Collect information on current provision of information to victims; provide overview of experience and needs of victims with reference to information provided by criminal justice agencies and identify gaps between needs and actual provision; identify what information could specifically be provided by the fiscal service and in what form.
Domestic Violence Media Campaign July-December 1994 System Three Scotland Assess the extent of public awareness and comprehension of Scottish Office domestic violence media campaign.
Survey of users' experiences of the NHS in Scotland May-June 1994 MORI Ltd To measure progress being made in delivering the commitments made in the Patient's Charter about the standards of service people should expect from the NHS in Scotland.
European Drug Prevention Week 1994 October 1994 System Three Scotland Awareness of EDPW among eight to 21-year-olds.
Fire Safety Week 1994 Ongoing Progressive Research Processing of research on smoke alarms undertaken by fire brigades during Fire Safety Week.
Maternity Services October 1992—October 1993 Mrs. Yvonne Bostock (Independent Consultant) To explore women's views on topics concerned with the provision of maternity care in Scotland; to confirm that CRAG-SCOTMEG Consumer Group's Interpretation of the existing research corresponded with women's views and expectations of the services; to provide a sound basis for the group to form recommendations on women's expectations of services.
Civil Court Users June-July 1992 The MVA Consultancy To establish public perception of non-judicial aspects of civil business in the sheriff court.
Industry Department
Evaluation of "Cars Kill" TV Campaign June-November 1993 System Three Scotland To evaluate the "Cars Kill" TV campaign through testing children's awareness and attitudes to this campaign, and to other related national road safety campaigns and general road safety issues.

Subject Period conducted Contractor commissioned Objectives
Hotel Signposting Evaluation July-November 1993 The MVA Consultancy To investigate inter alia whether the provision of new accommodation signs improve ease of access for visitors and guests and to monitor whether these signs are associated with an increase in occupancy rates.
Scottish Drivers' Attitudes to Speeding Survey December 1993-June 1994 Market Research Scotland Ltd To detect any changes in the attitudes of Scottish drivers towards speeding since November 1991 and to explore reasons for these changes.
Evaluation of Year of the Elderly Road Safety Campaign January 1994 (Part 1) February-April 1994 (Part 2) System Three Scotland The MVA Consultancy To evaluate the effectiveness of the Scottish Road Safety Campaign's initiatives in support of European Year of the Elderly.
Setting Forth: Stated Preference Survey June 1993 Oscar Faber TPA To provide the data necessary to model the impact of toll increases on driver behaviour across the Firth of Forth.
An Evaluation of Scotland's National Tourist Routes June-November 1994 Colin Buchanan and Partners To evaluate the effectiveness of the national tourist routes in encouraging a wider spread of tourist traffic, and to measure the availability of STB and ATB promotional material relating to the NTRs.
Urban Partnership Household Surveys (Wester Hailes, Whitfield, Ferguslie Park) March 1993-May 1994 Social and Community Planning Research Repeat of household surveys carried out in 1989–90 in order to evaluate the impact of the urban partnerships now that initiatives are five years old.
Urban Partnership Household Surveys (Castlemilk) March-May 1994 Public Attitude Surveys —
Evaluation of Theatre Tours July 1994-March 1995 The Scottish Council for Research in Education To evaluate the effectiveness of theatre tours as a medium for road safety education.
Evaluation of "Cars Kill" Cinema October-December 1994 Market Research Scotland To evaluate the Scottish Road Safety Campaign's "Cars Kill" advertising in the cinema.
Drivers' Attitude to the new Variable Message System on trial around the Forth Estuary February/March 1995 Oscar Faber TPA To establish the relevancy and effectiveness of the message content shown on the VMS which is currently being trialled around the Forth estuary.
Year of the Young Driver 1995 January-February 1995 System Three Scotland Testing creative development of advertising scripts.
Education Department
Further and Higher Education Charter for Scotland October-November 1992 British Market Research Bureau To identify issues of importance to current and potential students, their parents, and the general public to help shape the priorities of the charter.
School Education April-October 1993 Social Community and Planning Research To provide information on the public's attitudes towards, and expectations of, school education at senior stages for an international study under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Subject Period conducted Contractor commissioned Objectives
Agriculture and Fisheries Department
Crofting January-April 1993 Independent Northern Consultants To obtain information on the aspirations of crofters for the future, and ways in which the Crofters Commission may help to meet these aspirations.
Marketing and processing of agricultural products and related services in the Highlands and Islands June 1994 Euro Access To identify whether the successor to the rural enterprise programme should include support for marketing of agricultural products. The study involved surveys of farmers and applicants under previous schemes.
An evaluation of the Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme March-July 1995 St. Andrew's Economic Consultants To examine the extent to which CCAGS is achieving the objectives of the Scheme and to provide information which would help assess possible policy options for the future.
Central Services
The Scottish Office Central Enquiry Unit July-December 1993 Research Resources To assess the impact of the press advertisement on awareness and on motivating the public to use the enquiry unit; determining the public's understanding of the role of the Scottish Office.