§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the expenditure of his Department on advertising and publicity was in each of the last six years, broken down by campaign; and what the projected expenditure is for 2003–04. [152855]
1464W
§ Maria Eagle2003–04 was a major year for advertising and publicity in the Department for Work and Pensions, with a number of big campaigns rising to a peak of activity.
During 2003–04, estimated expenditure on alerting people to their rights, responsibilities and entitlements through information campaigns was £58,179,000. Of this sum, an estimated £40,894,000 was spent on advertising using television, radio, cinema, internet and press media.
Some campaigns, such as pension credit and new deal, have expenditure falling into more than one financial year, depending on requirements and final billing dates. Estimated total expenditure for 2003–04, broken down by campaign, is in the table.
£ 2003–04 campaign Advertising expenditure
Total publicity
expenditure
1Future Pensioners/Informed Choice — 2,700,000 Pensioners' Guide — 1,250,000 Pension Credit 11,100,000 15,580,000 The Pension Service 570,000 2,650,000 Direct Payment 11,044,000 12,474,000 Direct Payment road show 51,000 480,000 Fraud 8,383,000 9,362,000 Winter Fuel 637,000 938,000 Council Tax Benefit 500,000 652,000 New Deal 5,800,000 7,600,000 Jobcentre Plus awareness — 531,000 Jobseeker Direct help-line 1,700,000 1,700,000 Jobcentre Plus employer marketing 1,016,000 1,016,000 Age Positive 46,000 946,000 DDA Awareness and Disability Rights 47,000 300,000 Total 40,894,000 58,179,000 1 The total publicity expenditure column includes the advertising costs shown in the centre column. Final expenditure April 2003-March 2004 may differ from these figures depending on actual activity and billing dates. Notes: All costs exclude VAT. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £1,000 Advertising costs are total media costs excluding all production costs. Information campaigns costing under £250,000 and the details of highly localised publicity activity by the Department's customer-facing businesses have generally not been included as a disproportionate cost would be incurred in compiling these figures. The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 January 2004, Official Report, column 342W, detailing expenditure for 2001–02 and 2002–03. Information on total advertising and publicity costs by campaign for these years can be found in the Department's annual reports, copies of which are in the Library.
A more detailed breakdown, distinguishing between advertising and other publicity costs, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.