§ Baroness Castle of Blackburnasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the estimated cost for the current year of the proposed television advertising campaign to encourage pensioners to take up their entitlement to the minimum income guarantee; when the rest of the items in the campaign will be introduced, including the new free telephone claim service, the new teleclaims centre, the electronic claim form and the two million letters to pensioners; and at what cost respectively. [HL1869]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)A package in the region of £15 million has been allocated for a campaign to encourage pensioners to claim their minimum income guarantee. This budget covers the advertising activity, the mailing and the related services that are being introduced, including the new telephone claim service; teleclaims centre; and the electronic claim form. Of this budget, around £4 million is planned to be spent on advertising the campaign this year. The campaign will begin at the end of May when the first mailshot will start to issue, supported by television advertising.
It is not possible to allocate costs respectively to each item as overall expenditure may fluctuate according to response.