§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total cost of the advertising campaign for working benefits launched on 1 June. [44573]
§ Mr. Keith Bradley[holding answer 5 June 1998]: The Working Benefits campaign is part of the Government's welfare to work initiative. It is designed to help families beat the poverty trap by letting them know which benefits they can access when they get into work. It targets chiefly lone parents on Income Support, and couples with children who are either out of work, or on a low income. A lot of help exists in the form of in-work benefits, such as Family Credit, Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit—these make work affordable. The Working Benefits campaign should alert those in greatest need to the help available to facilitate the move from benefit into work. Lone parents moving off Income Support and into work not only means that they—and their children—can enjoy a better standard of living than they ever could 547W on benefit, but can also help to reduce Social Security expenditure on lone parents—currently £10.5 billion a year.
Total cost of the advertising campaign is £2.15 million, which includes TV and radio production and airtime; design and production of print material; telephone response handling and fulfilment; direct mail to 580,000 lone parents; campaign website; campaign development research; and pre and post campaign effectiveness research.