§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of total expenditure by his Department on(a) focus groups and (b) opinion polls in each year from 1995–96 to 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [162762]
§ Mr. CaplinThe Government want to hear what people have to say about proposed new policies and ideas and are committed to obtaining the best value for money. Public opinion research, including focus groups and polling, is subject to the usual strict rules that spending must represent good value for the taxpayer and must not be used for party political purposes. Research is widely used to inform the development, delivery and evaluation of policy.
Information on the totality of quantitative and qualitative surveys carried out by the Ministry of Defence and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.