Ministry of Defence: Public Opinion

(asked on 22nd June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.


Answered by
Johnny Mercer Portrait
Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This question was answered on 29th June 2020

Information on spend for opinion polling and focus groups for the whole department is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The information in the table below has been provided by the Directorate of Defence Communications and Army both of whom have readily available figures broken down by month. The RAF has one payment of £2,000 for opinion polling over the timeframe requested.

Polling (excl VAT)

Focus Groups (Excl VAT)

Total cost (Excl VAT)

January 2019

£32,150

-

£32,150

February 2019

£28,930

-

£28,930

March 2019

£12,540

£13,800

£26,340

April 2019

-

£6,700

£6,700

May 2019

-

-

£0

June 2019

£25,430

£25,430

July 2019

-

-

£0

August 2019

-

-

£0

September 2019

£12,540

-

£12,540

October 2019

£12,890

-

£12,890

November 2019

£1,550

-

£1,550

December 2019

£12,540

-

£12,540

January 2020

£12,890

-

£12,890

February 2020

-

£12,500

£12,500

March 2020

£62,090

£18,500

£80,590

April 2020

£7,400

-

£7,400

May 2020

£14,540

-

£14,540

June 2020

-

-

£0

Total

£235,490

£51,500

£286,990

Polling and focus groups are vital tools within Defence Communications because they provide insight for communications plans and allow us to evaluate the effect of our work. Communication is most effective when the target audience and their behavioural context is understood. By learning more about the general public’s behaviours, intentions, attitudes and communication preferences, Government communications can become more relevant, meaningful and impactful. Effective monitoring and evaluation helps us to articulate the value of communications campaigns and also helps us to improve campaigns on an ongoing basis.

Reticulating Splines