Public Opinion Research

HC Deb 10 February 1998 vol 306 cc161-2W

Mr. Duncan

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many contracts for public opinion research her Department has awarded since 1 May; if she will indicate the(a) purpose, (b) cost, (c) value and (d) duration of each contract; and which companies (i) bid for and (ii) were awarded each contract. [28873]

Clare Short

The Department engaged Opinion Leader Research Ltd. to carry out public opinion research in the autumn. The purpose was to test public attitudes towards and awareness of what the Department is doing and what we are trying to achieve. It repeated a similar exercise undertaken under the previous Administration. There was no Ministerial involvement in the design or awarding of the contract.

No other bids for this work were invited. The work was carried out over a period of a few weeks at a cost of around £43,000.

A summary document of the research has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.