Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Baker Excerpts

Wednesday 14th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hurd]

The programme is subject to approval in the comprehensive spending review, but all being well our intention is for it to be operational early next year. The focus will be on trying to provide grass-roots community grants to deprived areas that are characterised by high levels of economic deprivation and low levels of social capital.

[Steve Baker (Wycombe) (Con)]

14. What efficiency savings have been identified by the efficiency and reform group.

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude)]

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to Question 8.

[Steve Baker]

The last Government spent a fortune on advertising themselves. How will this Government make savings in that area?

[Mr Maude]

We established at an early stage a moratorium on new advertising and marketing spend. Any exceptions to that moratorium have to come to me personally, and I am delighted to find that remarkably few applications are being made for exceptions. The amount of taxpayers’ money spent by the Government on advertising and marketing has been significantly reduced. At the end of the year, I expect to be able to show a very significant reduction in what was being spent by the last Government on what I have to say was a pretty incontinent basis.