§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on information literature, advertising and campaign material in financial year 2001–02; if he will list the campaigns that spent over £250,000; and if he will make a statement. [70215]
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§ Mr. McCartney[holding answer 22 July 2002]: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001. Since that time and up to the end the 2001–02 financial year a total of £18.54 million was spent on advertising media and associated production and campaign materials costs.
Since June 2001 and up until the end of the 2001–02 financial year the following major campaigns costing over £250,000 have been run:
£ New Deal for Disabled People 850,000 A national campaign to launch NDDP, covering press advertising in national and regional titles, supported by a helpline, website and publicity material.
£ New Deal 50 Plus 500,000 A regional campaign to encourage more of the over-50s into work and to increase their awareness of the local help available.
£ New Deal 25 Plus 500,000 A national campaign to inform the public about changes to the programme through radio advertising, a video and printed materials, supported by research.
£ Age Positive 500,000 PR (including direct mail and partnerships with regional newspaper, sponsoring an award, exhibitions, research and promotional printed material) to raise employers' awareness of the business benefits of employing an age-diverse workforce.
£ Work Incentives 450,000 Advertising campaign on local radio to raise awareness of the range of financial initiatives available to those moving from benefits into employment if they meet the qualifying criteria.
£ Pension Education 7,188,000 A publicity campaign to encourage people to save for their retirement and understand the pension options available to them.
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£ State Second Pension 463,000 Development and implementation of publicity to inform carers about how new state pension rules could help them—linked to the overall pensions education campaign.
£ Pensioners' Guide 729,000 Production and distribution of a guide on cross-government help and services for pensioners.
£ Winter Fuel Payments 718,000 Information for people aged 60 plus and advisers about winter fuel payments and activity reminding them to claim and telling them how to claim for winter 2001 and relevant previous winters.
£ Changes to rules on inherited £459,000 SERPS Publicity about change to the rules on inheriting the State Earnings-Related Pensions Scheme.
£ Targeting Fraud 9,000,000 A national advertising campaign on television, radio, press and posters to deter dishonest behaviour, reinforced by regional press advertising showing that benefit fraudsters are regularly caught and punished.
£ Disability Discrimination Act 3,000,000 Awareness A national, regional and trade press advertising campaign to raise the public's awareness of the DDA and specifically to encourage service providers to ensure that disabled people have access to their services.
The Department issues many hundreds of publications to ensure people have information about the availability of its services, and are aware of their own rights and responsibilities. Identifying the costs for all those issued during this period would only be possible at disproportionate cost.