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8 Apr 2010 : Column 1561W—continued
| Table 1: Specific Sure Start Children's Centres related communications to the public | |
| Financial Year | Amount (£) |
| (1) As at 23 March 2010 | |
Since 2004, there have been two updates to the branding guidelines for Sure Start Children's Centres, both of which set out expectations for how external signage should look. The first update was in March 2006, which established Sure Start as the overall brand for all services for 0 to 5-year-olds and created a new Sure Start logo. A further update to branding guidelines was made in March 2009, to reflect the establishment of the national network of Sure Start Children's Centres.
As part of the national communications campaign an estimated 2,400,000 leaflets advertising Sure Start Children's Centres were sent to specific postcodes via door drops (see Tables 2 and 3). The postcodes in Table 2 were selected according to population density and deprivation and those in Table 3 according to rurality and deprivation. We do not hold details of which local authority wards these postcodes represent and have supplied details of the upper tier local authority in Tables 2 and 3. A copy of tables 2 and 3 will be placed in the Libraries. Local authorities and individual centres may have conducted their own door drop leaflet distribution, but this information is not collected by the Department. Door drop leaflet distribution is an effective way of targeting potential users of children's centres among families who may be less likely to access children centres.
National radio advertising for Sure Start Children's Centres started for the first time in 2009-10. The total amount spent on radio advertising in 2009-10 was £951,800. Radio advertising is effective at building awareness on a national level and reaching out to parents who may be unaware of children's centres and the services they offer.
Press advertising for Sure Start Children's Centres started in 2008-09 and 2009-10. The total amount spent on press advertising in 2008-2009 was £150,000; and in 2009-10 it was £831,600. Press advertising is particularly useful in conveying the range of services available at children's centres.
The Department commissioned specialist creative development of advertising for Sure Start Children's Centres in 2009-10 only. The total amount spent was £87,300 in 2009-10. The creative development is a crucial part of the planning process. This research helps us to understand whether the advertisements are clear and engaging for the audience before they are rolled out nationally. This ensures that we can receive the optimum return on investment.
Children's Commissioner for England
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost to the public purse was of the operation of the office of the Children's Commissioner for England in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [325746]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 7 April 2010]: For the financial year 2009-10 the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England received £2,669,818.00 grant in aid from the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Curriculum: Expenditure
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much (a) his Department and (b) the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency spent on developing the National Curriculum in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [321200]
Ms Diana R. Johnson:
The latest financial year for which figures are available is 2008-09. During that year the Department spent £317,000 on developing the national
curriculum by providing support to the Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum.
During the same period the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency spent £1.6 million on developing the national curriculum in support of the Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on rooms for staff leisure in each of the last five years. [324433]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families was created on 28 June 2007. Since then expenditure on rooms for staff leisure has been as follows:
| £ | |||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | |
Departmental Consultants
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much consultants employed by his Department and its agencies have been paid (a) in total and (b) in reimbursable expenses since its inception. [313999]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: From the year 2005-06 the figures set out in the table reflect comparable annual consultancy costs for DCSF (from FY 2007-08) and its predecessor Department (DFES) covering both administration and programme costs:
| Expenditure on consultants | |
| £ million | |
Figures for prior years are available for administration costs only as these were not recorded centrally before November 2004.
Figures for reimbursable expenses are not recorded separately to consultancy costs and cannot be provided.
These figures cover the Department itself, we do not separately record the costs incurred by our agencies and NDPBs and are therefore unable to provide this detail.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on consultancy in the latest year for which figures are available. [316571]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Figures for the former Department for Education and Skills show that it spent the following sums from administration costs (the Department's internal running costs) on consultancy from 1997:
| £ million | |
The costs of consultancy charged to programmes budgets (supporting external front line delivery) before November 2004 was not recorded centrally, and could now be provided only at disproportionate cost. The total cost of consultancy charged to programmes from November to March 2004-05 was £4.4 million.
From the year 2005-06, consultancy costs as a whole have been captured. Set out in the following table are comparable annual consultancy costs for the Department.
| Expenditure on consultants | |
| £ million | |
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost to his Department was of employing press and media officers in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department was of employing such staff in the financial year 1996-97, expressed in current prices. [324809]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department employs 26 people in the press office.
The total salary cost for the Department's press office in the financial year 2008-09 was £1,350,713.10.
In the financial year 1996-97 the Department employed 19 people in the press office at an actual cost of £702,000. It is not possible to express this in real terms except at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Internet
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many complaints his Department received on difficulties using its website in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement; [325203]
(2) how much his Department spent on external website design consultants in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [325221]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The requested information cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what (a) bonuses and (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible in each of the last three years. [300642]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Bonuses and incentives to consultants and contractors are a matter for the non-departmental public bodies themselves. Central records are not held and could be obtained at only disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of his Department's expenditure under each line of Table 8.4 of his Department's Report for 2009 is included in the 75 per cent. of the budget to be protected in 2011-12 and 2012-13. [322493]
Ms Diana R. Johnson [holding answer 16 March 2010]: The pre-Budget report confirmed that from 2011-13 funding for Sure Start will continue to rise in line with inflation; funding for 16 to 19 learning will rise by 0.9 per cent. year on year with an extra £202 million this year to meet our September Guarantee; and funding for schools will increase by 0.7 per cent. in real terms, which at current inflation levels will mean a cash increase of 2.7 per cent.
This means that 75 per cent. of the DCSF budget has been protected. The document, 'Investing for the Future, Protecting the Front Line: School Funding 2010', published on 15 March, showed how the DCSF budget breaks down in 2010-11 into the front-line areas protected in the PBR and the remaining areas from which the Department is finding £500 million savings in the 2011-13 period. A further breakdown will be provided when we publish our annual report later in the year.
Departmental Public Relations
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with which public relations companies (a) his Department, (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible and (c) other bodies sponsored by his Department have had contracts in each year since 2004. [317840]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Public relations agencies are employed for specific communications tasks, most commonly working alongside our press office to provide campaign support in local, regional and specialist media. The Department's expenditure on public relations for complete financial years, since its formation in June 2007, is outlined in the following table:
| Total spend (£) | |
Increased expenditure for 2008-09 is related to the 14 to 19 reform and the diploma, both of which were launched in 2008
The other requested information cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Departmental Theft
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to deter theft from within the Department. [322641]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: DCSF, like all Departments, aims to have effective security measures in place to guard against theft and other threats. Measures to deter, prevent and detect theft are an essential feature of the Department's protective security controls. These controls reflect the standards set out in the HMG Security Policy Framework (SPF) issued by Cabinet Office and available online at:
It would not be appropriate to provide details of specific controls as this could undermine their effectiveness.
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