Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Government public health messaging through local media outlets in Harlow.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given to PQ 33512 on 21 April 2020, PQ 40655 on 11 May 2020, PQ 45460 on 18 May 2020, and PQ 46692 on 29 May 2020.

OmniGOV is the appointed agency responsible for media buying across all Government campaigns. In performing this role, they are responsible for ensuring campaigns are delivered both effectively and cost-efficiently. Titles for this campaign are selected by OmniGOV based on their ability to communicate in a measurable and effective way with audiences at a national, regional and local level.

The press partnership is designed to support the printed media and to reach older audiences and audiences which consume less online media. The partnership has also been structured deliberately to favour smaller regional and local titles. We have not selected digital-only titles because we are already investing heavily in digital advertising. Every title is assessed by OmniGOV and by our media auditors.

Cabinet Office is continuously tracking and reviewing spending on cross-government campaigns, including Covid-19, to ensure our communications are efficient. Our Covid-19 messages have reached 95% of adults on average 17 times per week.