HC Deb 07 September 2004 vol 424 cc1178-9W
Peter Bottomley

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what information was available to his Ministers on 22 July about the likely outcomes of votes for regional assemblies. [186995]

Mr. Raynsford

Ministers were aware of a number of published surveys and opinion polls. The decision to reschedule the referendums in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West followed differences of view in the House of Commons about whether the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister should go ahead with those referendums, on the basis proposed involving all postal ballots, by November 4.

Peter Bottomley

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate the resources which have been put into preparing for the postponed votes on regional assemblies. [186996]

Mr. Raynsford

The referendums for Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West are being rescheduled, so preparation for them has been and still is necessary. Some of the preparations are common to all three regions. The main costs incurred by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which can be attributed to the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber are as followsThe costs for the Boundary Committee's local government reviews in these two regions is included in the answer I am giving to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) today (PQ 187254). Some costs in relation to the Your Say information campaign. These are detailed in the answer I am giving to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) today (PQ 187162).

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what the total cost is of the Your Say information campaign on elected regional assemblies in(a) the North West, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the North East to date; [187162]

(2) what his revised estimate is of the total cost of the Your Say information campaigns in the light of the postponement of the referendums in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber; [187252]

(3) if he will list each item of expenditure undertaken as part of the Your Say information campaign on elected regional assemblies, broken down by the region in which that expenditure was undertaken. [187253]

Mr. Raynsford

Originally, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister proposed a budget for the Your Say information campaign across all three regions of £5 million.

Information campaign activity relating to the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber was suspended on 22 July. The Department has sought to secure refunds for expenditure related to these two regions, wherever possible.

It is estimated that total expenditure until the referendum in November will be approximately £3.2 million.

Expected expenditure to the end of the campaign can be broken down by region, into its main components, thus:

£000
North

West

 Yorkshire

and the

Humber

 North

East

 Total
(a) Production and

distribution of leaflets

 98 72 308 478
(b) Posters 232 193 86 511
(c) Broadcast media 242 211 223 676
(d) Newspapers 137 158 128 423
(e) Events 49 39 68 156
(f) Other 309 278 408 995
Total 1,067 951 1,221 3,239