§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much his Department will spend in 1998 on informing the public about the introduction of the euro; [53832]
(2) what resources his Department will allocate towards public education in respect of the introduction of the euro; [53702]
(3) what resources his Department will allocate in 1999 to educating and informing the public about the introduction of the euro. [53833]
§ Ms HewittThe Government's communication campaign on the euro is not a general public education campaign but is specifically targeted at ensuring UK businesses, especially small and medium sized firms, are aware of the implications of the introduction of the single currency from 1 January 1999 and have the information they need to address the issues arising from this.
To meet this objective, the Treasury Euro Preparations Unit has received Summer Supplementary Estimate provision of £7.5 million to help raise business awareness during 1998–99. No expenditure has been authorised beyond this.