Ms Paula Keaveney

Email: [FOI #28679 email]

Reference: FOICR 14122/10

Date 16 March 2010

Dear Ms Keaveney

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

I am sorry for the delay in replying to your email of 9 February in which you ask for information on the National Identity Scheme. Your request has been considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We are now in a position to provide a full reply to your request.

I am able to disclose the information set out in the enclosed Annex.

I hope that this information meets your requirements. I would like to assure you that we have provided you with all relevant information that Identity and Passport Service holds.

If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months to the address below, quoting reference FOICR 14122/10:-

Information Access Team

Home Office
Ground Floor, Seacole Building

2 Marsham Street

London SW1P 4DF

e-mail: [email address]

As part of any internal review the Department's handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. Should you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you would have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Yours sincerely

H Reid

Parliamentary & Correspondence Management Team

Annex

You asked :-

The Government is currently attempting to pilot the "voluntary" use

     of ID cards in parts of the North West, including Liverpool and

     Merseyside.

     As part of this drive, advertisements to encourage people are being

     placed in the local media - whether print or broadcast.

     I would like to know how much has been spent on advertising to

     encourage ID card take up since 1 Jan 2010 in the media covering

     Merseyside.

     By this I mean

     Daily Post (Trinity Mirror)

     Liverpool Echo (Trinity Mirror)

     Merseymart and Star (Trinity Mirror)

     Radio City

     City Talk FM

     Juice FM

     Granada Television

     I would also like to know how much has been spent on "outdoor" or

     "ambient" media in the same area

     By this I mean

     billboards

     bus shelter advertising

     Hoardings in railway stations

     Advertisements on trains or busses

     Advertisements on the side or backs of busses

     (it may help you to know that the main bus operators serving this

     area are Stagecoach and Arriva)

     I would also like to know how much budget has been allowed for this

     advertising campaign in total.

     I realise that this is a potentially complicated enquiry. I would

     prefer, if you have one set of figure ready earlier than another,

     for you to release the first set on its own rather than cause the

     later information to delay it all

IPS Response is :-

Advertising expenditure on Press:

Manchester Press: £39,404.95

NW Press £18,410.09

NW Press £68, 242.03

Advertising expenditure for radio:

Manchester radio £18,957.21

Manchester radio £33,051.44

NW radio £17,012.18

Advertising outdoor

Manchester outdoor £39,047.60

NW Outdoor £56,823.29

No television advertising conducted

Other related costs

Press £30,238.16

Radio £16, 547.31

GRAND TOTAL = £ 337,734.26

The above grand total is the budget allocation for advertising in the North West.

Passport Adviceline: 0300 222 0000 (07.00 - 23.00 seven days a week).

Email us at [email address]. Visit our website at www.ips.gov.uk.

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Headquarters

Identity and Passport Service

Parliamentary & Correspondence Management Team

4^th Floor, Peel Building

2 Marsham Street

London

SW1P 4DF

Tel (020) 7035 8889

Fax (0870) 336 9175

Email [email address]

Web www.ips.gov.uk