HC Deb 26 March 2002 vol 382 cc980-1W
Mr. McLoughlin

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport. Local Government and the Regions (1) how many television filler advertisements his Department produced in 2001; and how many it intends to produce in 2002; [46237]

(2) how much air-time was allotted to his Department's television filler advertisements, indicating the channels used, in 2001; and how much air-time it expects to be allotted in 2002. [46238]

Dr. Whitehead

The Department has produced eight new TV fillers in the financial year 2001–02. Five of these cover road safety and three, which were modifications of previous TV advertising, cover fire safety. We have also updated five existing fire safety fillers. The total cost committed was £219,745.

The eight new fillers will be launched at the beginning of the new financial year and we will monitor their success to inform future strategy, including the need to produce additional films.

Figures returned by TV stations indicate an estimated total of 19,765 transmissions will have been secured by the end of March 2002, equivalent to £3.2 million worth of airtime. Coverage was achieved on BBC, ITV, Channel 5 and various satellite channels.

We expect the value of airtime received to increase in the next financial year as our research has indicated that TV stations are more receptive to newer films.

Mr. McLoughlin

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) how much air-time was allotted to his Department's radio filler advertisements, indicating the radio stations used, in 2001; and how much air-time it expects to be allotted in 2002; [46242]

(2) how many radio filler advertisements his Department produced in 2001; and how many it intends to produce in 2002; [46241]

(3) how much of his Department's road safety publicity budget was spent on producing radio filler advertisements in 2001; and how much it intends to spend on producing radio filler advertisements in 2002. [46240]

Dr. Whitehead

In the financial year 2001–02 the department committed £21,545 for producing two radio fillers for road safety which were launched a month ago. We intend to commit an estimated £50,000 in 2002–03 to produce up to five radio fillers for fire safety campaigns.

The Department's previous fillers (as DETR) secured at least 1,000 transmissions to publicise foot and mouth information and the role of the Drinking Water Inspectorate. Actual transmissions will be higher but not all stations provide returns. It is too early to know the number of transmissions secured by the new road safety fillers.

We expect increased coverage in 2002–03 as the number of our fillers and radio use of them increases. Due to commercial sensitivity, we are unable to provide details of which stations have aired fillers.