The Department for Work &​ Pensions has cut its comms spend by three-quarters since 2009, as a report finds that long-term unemployment is at '​crisis'​ levels.

The DWP has revealed it spent £​13m on comms between April and December 2011, suggesting an overall spend of about £​17.3m across the financial year. This represents a fall of 73% from £​64m in 2009-10.

The number of staff in the department'​s comms team fell from 301 in 2009-10 to 215 by the end of December 2011, with the cost of press office salaries dipping from £​2.8m in 2009-10 to £​1.9m in 2011-12 (see table, below).

The figures, revealed as part of PRWeek'​s '​state of the public sector'​ series of reports, came as the TUC warned that almost half of unemployed workers over the age of 50 have been jobless for a year or more.

It also showed that the number of 18- to 24-year-olds out of work for at least six months has risen by more than a third in the past year.

Responding to the figures, Fishburn Hedges CEO Fiona Thorne called for some '​rebalanc​e'​ after austerity cuts wiped out Government comms budgets in 2010. She added that DWP campaigns could be '​fantastic at reaching communities of people and helping them to help themselves'​.

Thorne, whose agency handled several DWP contracts in the past, said: '​The scale of public spending cuts inevitably meant valuable and effective campaigns disappeared, as the decks were cleared. Now there is perhaps some need to rebalance.'​

Full Story

Comments

Write comments...
or post as a guest
Loading comment... The comment will be refreshed after 00:00.

Be the first to comment.

Free PIP, ESA & UC Updates!

Delivered Fortnightly

Over 110,000 claimants and professionals subscribe to the UK's leading source of benefits news.

 
iContact
We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.