Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Ministerial Statement HCWS322 and the Answer of 25 April 2022 to Question 156485 on Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Public Opinion, what proportion of spend on research and evaluation services in 2021 related to focus groups; and which suppliers were used to run those focus groups in 2021.

The Department spent £110,875 (excluding VAT) on distinct focus groups commissioned to an external Supplier in 2021. These focus groups were delivered by C M Monitor (Britain Thinks) and details of the contract can be found on Contracts Finder, in line with Government Transparency Policy.

More broadly the Department spent £1,259,396.63 (excluding VAT) on research and evaluations services, which may have encompassed the use of focus groups to some degree, in 2021. Details of the Department’s contracts, over £10,000 (including VAT) can be found on Contracts Finder. The Department cannot apportion expenditure on the use of focus groups, beyond the figure provided, as the expenditure cannot be wholly and exclusively isolated from within the use of wider research and evaluation services.