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Central Office of Information
Mr. Collins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list (1) the campaigns managed by the Central Office of Information in the last 12 months; and what the (a) costs and (b) advertising agencies that received contracts for each campaign were; [37962]
- (2) the marketing campaigns undertaken in the last 12 months by the Central Office of Information, broken down by the Government Departments that were responsible for initiating the campaigns. [37961]
Mr. Leslie: I have placed copies of the lists in the Library of the House.
Mr. Collins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the publicity campaigns undertaken by the Central Office of Information in each year since 1997, broken down by whether they were carried out through (a) television adverts, (b) newspaper adverts, (c) internet advertising, (d) private polling and (e) focus groups. [37957]
Mr. Leslie: The information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Collins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on what criteria advertising contracts are awarded to external agencies through the Central Office of Information; and what changes to the criteria are planned. [37958]
Mr. Leslie: Contracts are awarded following a competition between suitable companies. Companies are selected following a rigorous analysis of past performance
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and the independent Advisory Committee on Advertising also provides guidance on the selection of suitable agencies.
No changes to the criteria are planned following the changes in responsibilities.
Mr. Collins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what research is undertaken by the Central Office of Information to monitor the effectiveness of Government marketing communications; and what the findings were for the advertising campaigns carried out on behalf of the Government in the last 12 months. [37960]
Mr. Leslie: A wide range of research techniques are used to monitor effectiveness.
All research through COI is commissioned through independent research specialists.
Findings on advertising campaigns can be released only by the commissioning department and not by COI.
Mr. Collins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the funding of the Central Office of Information was in each year since 1997. [37963]
Mr. Leslie: Central Office of Information (COI) is funded in two ways. The great majority of its expenditure is recovered as a trading fund by recharging costs incurred to its clients who are all publicly funded bodies. A small element of funding is also received as central vote funding under class xvii vote 4.
Both amounts can be seen in the annual report and accounts published by COI and laid before Parliament each year. The vote funding is shown in an extract of the appropriation account and the funding from charges is represented by the income shown in the income and expenditure account.
Mr. Collins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on what basis it was decided that the Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information should report directly to the Prime Minister's Director of Communications; and whether the Central Office of Information will continue to report to Cabinet Office Ministers. [37965]
Mr. Leslie: The new role of the Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI) as the Government's chief adviser on marketing communications and information campaigns was, as I reported to the House on 5 February 2002, Official Report, column 862W, a recommendation from a quinquennial review of the COI which was carried out by the Cabinet Office. The Chief Executive remains fully accountable to Cabinet Office Ministers for the work of the Central Office of Information, and they are accountable to Parliament. Individual Departments remain responsible for individual campaigns.
TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND
THE REGIONS
National Rail Summit
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 29 January 2002, Official Report, column 192W, on the National Rail Summit, if he will list
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the commitments agreed to by the industry in 1999 and place in the Library the related documentation; if he will place in the Library a copy of the summary of progress against the 1999 commitments produced for the 2000 Summit; and if he will state what further reviews of progress (a) have taken place and (b) are planned to take place and place any copies of related documentation in the Library. [33839]
Mr. Jamieson: Copies of the relevant press notices have been placed in the Library. The SRA reviews the delivery of train operators' franchise commitments and reports on them in its annual report—copies of which are available in the Library.
Contracts
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what contracts his Department has had since 1997 with (a) Arthur Andersen and (b) Accenture for (i) accountancy, (ii) audit and (iii) consultancy work; and what staff have been seconded (A) to his Department from and (B) from his Department to these firms. [32423]
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total cost to his Department has been of services provided by (a) Andersen and (b) Accenture, Andersen Consulting for (i) accountancy services, (ii) consultancy work and (iii) other work in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [32106]
Dr. Whitehead: Individual Government Departments are responsible for taking decisions on the goods and services they acquire, whether through the private finance initiative (PFI) or other procurement routes, taking into account the Government's policy of seeking value for money for the taxpayer. The public sector as a whole has signed hundreds of contracts, covering the delivery of a range of services.
For details of contracts with Andersen, I refer to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 7 February 2002, Official Report, column 1097W, and 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 829W. The cost to date on all contracts is £402,157.78.
Central Railways
Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to publish the SRA report on Central Railways. [34880]
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Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 12 February 2002]: The SRA's view on Central Railway's proposals is currently being considered by Ministers.
Concessionary Travel
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners benefiting from concessionary bus fare schemes in London in the last two years. [37517]
Ms Keeble: I have been informed by the Association of Local Government that the number of pensioners benefiting from concessionary bus fare schemes in London in the last two years is as follows:
- September 1998 to September 1999—879,000
September 1999 to September 2000—866,000.
Road Building (Greater London)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the major road-building programmes for the Greater London area for which his Department is responsible. [37264]
Mr. Jamieson: Following the establishment of the Greater London Authority in July 2000, the only roads in the Greater London area for which the Secretary of State is responsible are the M1, M4 and M11. There are no plans for major building programmes on any of these roads in the area.
Housing
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list for each of the past three years the investment by each English housing authority; and how much of this expenditure was from (a) central and (b) local government sources. [36621]
Ms Keeble [holding answer 25 February 2002]: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he has for each London borough over the past year of (a) local authority houses sold under right to buy, (b) the number built by registered social landlords for rent, (c) the number built by registered social landlords for part rent/purchase and (d) the number built by the private sector for sale. [36619]
Ms Keeble [holding answer 25 February 2002]: The available information is as follows.
Note:
1. Data shown are for April 2000 to March 2001, and include a small number of Rent to Mortgage sales.
2. RSL newbuild includes "off the shelf" purchases of properties built by private developers. RSL completions are recorded when the final tranche payment for the scheme is made.
3. Private enterprise completions do not distinguish properties which may be intended for rental.
Sources:
DTLR P1(B) quarterly and P2 (monthly) housing activity returns
Housing Corporation ADP completion statistics
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