Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the value for money achieved from advertising spend on HM Revenue and Customs' campaigns to ensure timely submission of self assessment forms from individual taxpayers.

All Government campaigns are subject to rigorous planning and approvals processes, including peer review through the Government Communications Service. Advertising forms only a part of any campaign. They are bolstered with no and low-cost activity wherever possible.

HMRC fully evaluates its advertising campaigns to establish value for money for the UK taxpayer; this includes identifying the effectiveness of each channel as well as assessing the quality of the media bought. It also identifies learnings from each campaign that can be applied to future activity.

In the last three years, HMRC has done additional research into its major campaigns to identify a return on marketing investment. The figures for the Self-Assessment advertising campaign are below:

*for every £1 spent on advertising, HMRC saves £14.10 in administration costs