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Departmental Public Relations

Volume 485: debated on Thursday 11 December 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on external (a) public affairs and (b) public relations consultants in each of the last five years. (242291)

[holding answer 10 December 2008]: In DEFRA, public relations covers a wide range of activity which forms an important element of a broader communications mix. This can include advertising, direct marketing, live events and publications. The following table shows what public relations activity was procured via DEFRA's Communications Directorate since FY 2004-05 using the COI Public Relations Framework.

Financial year

PR agency

Campaign

Expenditure (£)

2004-05

Amazon PR

Sustainable Development

58,788

2005-06

Amazon PR

Sustainable Development

67,084

Weber Shandwick

Climate Change

86,781

2006-07

EdComs and Blue Rubicon

DEFRA Year of Food and Farming

50,872

Amazon PR

Sustainable Development

48,973

Trimedia Harrison Cowley

ACT on CO2 campaign

49,250

Amazon PR

Sustainable development

48,973

2007-08

Trimedia Harrison Cowley

ACT on CO2 campaign (including a series of regional roadshows)

476,301

Munro and Forster

Waste

64,424

Trimedia Communications UK

Climate Change Champions

32,216

EdComs and Blue Rubicon

DEFRA Year of Food and Farming

242,578

April 2008 to November 2008

EDComs and Blue Rubicon

DEFRA Year of Food and Farming

28,230

Munro and Forster

ACT on CO2 campaign

77,788

We do not collate expenditure under the heading ‘public affairs’.