HC Deb 29 January 1996 vol 270 cc556-7W
Mr. Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the total expenditure of her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on publicity for each of the years(a) 1979–80, (b) 1989–90, (c) 1991–92, (d) 1993–94, (e) 1994–95 and (f) 1995–96 (i) to date and (ii) as estimated for the whole year; what estimate she has made of such expenditure for 1996–97; and if she will break these figures down to indicate expenditure on (1) advertising and (2) press and public relations. [11344]

Mr. Robin Squire

[holding answer 25 January 1996]Before the merger in July 1995, the Department operated separately as the Department for Education and the Employment Department. We will continue to follow separately-funded programmes of publicity until the end of the financial year 1995–96.

Information on the publicity spend of agencies and non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally by the former Departments. It was not the policy of the former Departments to make use of paid public relations services. Press enquiries were handled by their own specialist staff and costs are not separately identifiable.

The costs of the total expenditure on publicity and on advertising for the former Departments are as follows:

£ thousand
Total publicity expenditure Advertising
ED
1979–80 70 not available
1989–90 30,300 16,630
1991–92 18,300 12,600
1993–94 10,970 7,300
1994–95 11,200 8,000
1995–96 (to date) 6,400 4,500
1995–96 (estimated for whole year) 7,595 6,283
DFE
1979–80 104 92
1989–90 1,400 250
1991–92 8,881 3,03
1993–94 9,994 1,442

£ thousand
Total publicity expenditure Advertising
1994–95 8,088 147
1995–96 (to date) 1,342 49
1995–96 (estimated for whole year) 5,430 300

The projected spending on publicity in the 1996–97 public expenditure survey allocation for the Department is £13,040,000. Details on how this will be divided between various forms of publicity have not yet been agreed.

Mr. Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the annual telephone costs to(a) her Department, (b) her Department's agencies and (c) her Department's non-departmental public bodies staff for each of the years (i) 1979–80, (ii) 1989–90, (iii) 1991–92, (iv) 1993–94, (v) 1994–95, (vi) 1995–96 and (vii) 1996–97; and if internal telephone directories are available to staff in all areas of (a) to (c). [11346]

Mr. Robin Squire

[holding answer 25 January 1996]The information is as followsa. Telephone costs to the Department

  1. (i) 1979–80: Figures are not available
  2. (ii) 1989–90: Figures are not available
  3. (iii) 1991–92: £6,157,168
  4. (iv) 1993–94: £6,269,422
  5. (v) 1994–95: £5,867,605
  6. (vi) 1995–96: £4,800,000 (estimate)
  7. (vii) 1996–97: £4,800,000 (estimate)

For 1995–96 and earlier the figures amalgamate the relevant expenditure of the former Department for Education and the former Department of Employment. The figures for 1993–94 and later years include the telephone costs for the Teacher's Pensions Agency which cannot be separately identified. b. Telephone costs to the Employment Service

  1. (i) 1979–80: Figures are not available
  2. (ii) 1989–90: Figures are not available
  3. (iii) 1991–92: Figures are not available
  4. (iv) 1993–94: £14,900,554
  5. (v) 1994–95: £13,699,000
  6. (vi) 1995–96: £12,833,333 (estimate)
  7. (vii) 1996–97: £12,833,333 (estimate)
c. Information about telephone costs to the Department's non-departmental public bodies is not available centrally. On availability of internal directories the answers are:
  1. (a) Yes
  2. (b) Yes
  3. (c) Information not available to the DfEE.