§ Mr. SwireTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on public relations advice in the past five years. [93866]
§ Mr. MacShaneThe total expenditure by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on public relations work in the past five years is:
£ including VAT 2002–03 360,899,46 2001–02 815,842 2000–01 347,857 1999–2000 nil 1998–99 59,337 This includes advice, design, branding, development and implementation of PR campaigns. It would take disproportionate costs to establish the element of this that was purely advice.
The bulk of the funding for 2001–02 and 2002–03 relates to the "Know Before You Go" public awareness campaign aimed at encouraging UK travellers to be better prepared when travelling overseas.
§ Mr. SwireTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what public relations companies his Department is consulting. [93867]
§ Mr. MacShaneThe FCO's "Know Before You Go" campaign is managed by a firm of London-based communications consultants: Biss Lancaster Euro RSCG.