HC Deb 04 February 1997 vol 289 cc555-6W
Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list(a) her Department's budgeted expenditure on (i) advertising, (ii) publicity and (iii) public information campaigns for the period January to March 1997 and (b) the actual expenditure on (1) advertising, (2) publicity and (3) public information campaigns in the period January to March in each of the past five years. [13466]

Mr. Robin Squire

In the first three months of 1997, this Department plans to spend an estimated £3.13 million on advertising and £6.45 million on publicity to provide public information. Producing comparable information for the past five years, isolating particular parts of those years as requested, would involve disproportionate cost.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the principal expenditure items and the total expenditure by her Department and its predecessors on advertising and publicity in each year since 1987–88. [13672]

Mr. Squire

[holding answer 31 January 1997]: Pursuant to my reply of 30 January, total spending on advertising and publicity for the Department is given below in financial years. Before the merger in July 1995, the Department operated separately funded programmes of publicity. This continued until the end of the financial year 1995–96.

£ million
Department for Education
1987–88 1.7
1988–89 1.6
1989–90 1.4
1990–91 4.5
1991–92 9.0
1992–93 8.0
1993–94 10.1
1994–95 9.4
1995–96 5.4
Department of Employment
1987–88 16.9
1988–89 15.7
1989–90 13.0
1990–91 12.6
1991–92 18.3
1992–93 7.2
1993–94 11.1
1994–95 11.1
1995–96 11.0
1Figures for these years do not include expenditure by the Training Agency, Training Commission and Manpower Services Commission.

Current estimated spending for the Department for Education and Employment for 1996–97 is £18.9 million.

Principal expenditure items since the creation of the Department for Education and Employment in July 1995 have been publicity campaigns covering the school and college performance tables, the nursery education voucher scheme, modern apprenticeships, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, career development loans and "Just the Job" A detailed breakdown of principal expenditure items by both of the former Departments prior to the merger, could be produced only at disproportionate cost.