HC Deb 19 July 1999 vol 335 cc393-4W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the title and purpose of each item of market and opinion research commissioned by or through his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies since May 1997 stating in each case whether or not the results were published. [89694]

Mr. Straw

[holding answer 5 July 1999]: The Department conducts or commissions market or opinion research only when it is justified by the specific needs of a particular policy or programme and when this is the most economical, efficient and effective way to achieve the purpose. Consulting and involving the public helps inform both policy formulation and the delivery of better quality public services. Responsive public services are an important part of the Modernising Government initiative.

For the available information, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply the then Minister of State, Home Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) gave to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) on 23 February 1998, Official Report, column 50, and the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Lichfield (Mr. Fabricant) on 3 July 1998, Official Report, column 287. There are nine additional items to add to this list:

  1. 1. A study of voter opinion looking into the possibility of introducing a Belgian style electoral system for elections to the European Parliament. The results from this research have been placed in the Library.
  2. 2. Planning, development, tracking and measuring the effectiveness of publicity campaigns, including:
    1. (a) Fire Safety Attitude and Behaviour Monitor November 1998 (England and Wales).
    2. (b) Fire Safety Christmas 1998 Campaign Evaluation (January 1999).
    3. (c) A study of voter's experience in the recent European Parliamentary elections, including qualitative creative campaign development (March 1999) and Quantitative pre/post tracking (June 1999).
    4. (d) A study of Electoral Registration advertising involving quantitative campaign tracking before and after the campaign (July and October 1998).
    5. (e) Local Crime Reduction Partnerships advertising involving quantitative campaign evaluation (March 1999).
    This research was not published, but results may sometimes appear in press releases.
  3. 3. National Fire Safety Centre Branding Research (June 1999).
  4. 4. Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) staff survey, in two phases, to gauge staff perceptions of the organisation.
  5. 5. Police Information Technology Organisation survey of police customers in England and Wales to establish a measure of the level of satisfaction with PITO's service. PITO's Annual Report for 1998–99, a copy of which is in the Library, reports the outcome under Performance against Key Performance Indicators.
  6. 6. Quarterly analysis of United Kingdom Passport Agency Customer Service.
  7. 7. Market research into clothing trends (October 1997) to investigate (by public opinion poll and other means) which trade names would encourage people to buy prison manufactured clothing.
  8. 8. On-going focus group research with Young Offenders to learn about their background and experiences.
  9. 9. Further 1999 Forensic Science staff survey published in the Forensic Science Service Magazine.