HC Deb 28 October 2002 vol 391 cc517-8W
Mr. Allen

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what use he and his Department have made of focus group research since June 2001; if he will identify for each research project the topics covered, the person or organisation carrying out the research, and the total cost; and if he will publish the research on his Department's website. [74995]

Mr. Leslie

Focus group research forms an element of a number of projects that come within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister research programmes. This is not always costed separately and the conclusions of focus groups are incorporated into the final research reports.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has used focus groups research with members of the general public to help inform and develop the fire safety publicity campaign covering Careless Smoking, Fire Action Plan, Excuses Kill, and Smoke Alarms.

Research projects were carried out by Andrew Irving, Cragg Ross Dawson and the COI; the sums paid to each contractor for individual pieces of work are regarded as commercial in confidence. The overall spend on focus group research for the fire safety campaign since June 2001 is £69,481.

Specific focus group data are not published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister website as they form part of a wide range of information and research used to inform public safety campaigns.