asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of films and audio-visual productions commissioned by her Department in each of the last five years.
The Central Office of Information has commissioned films and audio-visual productions for this Department as follows:
| 1970–71 | … | … | 8 |
| 1971–72 | … | … | 5 |
| 1972–73 | … | … | 5 |
| 1973–74 | … | … | 4 |
| 1974–75 | … | … | 7 |
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total sum spent by her Department on film and audio-visual productions in each of the last five years, detailing expenditure under the headings films and shorts and others.
The figures are as follows:
| Films | Shorts | Others | ||
| £ | £ | £ | ||
| 1970–71 | … | 12,000 | 12,100 | — |
| 1971–72 | … | 11,400 | 4,180 | 2,750 |
| 1972–73 | … | 24,200 | 13,300 | — |
| 1973–74 | … | 14,350 | 9,950 | — |
| 1974–75 | … | 21,450 | 16,000 | — |
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of film and audio-visual productions commissioned by her Department over the last five years which were made by Scottish-registered and English-registered production companies, respectively; and what was the total sum involved in each case.
Over the last five years the COI has made 29 film and audio-visual productions for the Department. All were made by English registered production companies at a total cost of £141,680.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether it is her policy to put all film and audio-visual productions commissioned by her Department out to competitive United Kingdom tender.
Film and audio-visual productions are produced through the COI, which commissions companies on the basis of their suitability for the work to be carried out.The use of competitive tendering is kept under review by the COI. On balance, it considers that it does not offer any advantage over direct commissioning.