§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the amount his Department has spent on advertising(a) between December 2000 to May 2001 and (b) between May to October 1997. [158998]
§ Mr. Wills[holding answer 26 April 2001]: The role of advertising is to make the general public aware of the opportunities available to them for example in employment, training or education, to enable them to fulfil their potential.
During the period May to October 1997 the DfEE spend on advertising was nil. During this period the Department was developing its policies.
During the period December 2000 to May 2001 the total DfEE spend on advertising was £14,755,321. This reflects the DfEE's need to communicate to a diverse and broad range of target audiences what the Department's policies mean to them.
The campaigns include:
Individual Learning Accounts—To encourage people to take up Individual Learning Accounts to improve their career prospects (£568,777).Childcare—A successful campaign to recruit more childcare workers and inform parents of local childcare provision (£1,775,475).Disability—Raising disability awareness (including getting small business to take practical steps to help disabled customers) (£1,899,447).173WFast Track Teachers—To inform potential recruits about the fast-track teachers scheme (£1,400,009).Science Year—To encourage more interest in science among young people (£1,509,643).Training and Jobs—To promote a range of training and jobs programmes, including apprenticeships for young people and jobs for the over 50s (£694,532).UK online centres—Encouraging adults to gain computer skills (£3,238,739).Millennium Volunteers—To raise awareness among young people about the benefits of volunteering in the community and stimulate recruitment (£615,341).Learning Journey—Campaign to get parents more involved in their children's education (£1,700,000).Widening Access to Higher Education—Letting young people know about university opportunities (£1,314,403).