Departmental Marketing

Mr. Pickles
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many branded plastic bags his Department has purchased in the last 24 months for which figures are available; and at what cost.

Mrs. McGuire
Information that is recorded shows that in the last 12 months, the Department purchased some 632,490 branded plastic bags at a cost of £22,667.62. The vast majority of these were purchased by the Health and Safety Executive for use in national campaigns. To comply with DWP’s Sustainable Development policy and cross government targets to reduce waste and make procurement more sustainable, all orders placed since September 2007 have been for biodegradable plastic bags.

Mr. Hoban
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what products featuring departmental or Government branding were procured by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Mrs. McGuire
The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies procure products featuring relevant branding when communicating with its customers and stakeholders. The information requested can only be gathered at a disproportionate cost.