Government pays celebrities £325,000 to front ad campaigns

By Nick Collins Published: 8:00AM GMT twenty-two Feb 2010

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) hired roughly 80 celebrities to validate campaigns on issues such as celebration of the mass and teenage pregnancies in between Feb 2008 and Dec 2009.

John Barnes, the former England footballer, Jo Brand, the comedienne and Nicholas Hoult and Joanna Page, the actors, are between a series of stars paid with taxpayers" income to crop up in open report campaigns, it was reported.

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The DCSF has not disclosed particular fees due to "commercial sensitivity", and refused to item that celebrities worked for free or asked for their compensate to be since to charity.

It was reported that Brand, Bill Bailey, Russell Kane and Josie Long the 4 comedians who fronted an "Alcohol, It"s No Joke" debate in Dec were paid a sum of �24,000 for "scriptwriting and expenses".

A orator for the DCSF said: "The infancy of the celebrities have and will work free of assign or accept a favoured volume to be used for a gift donation.

"However, when a debate covers an complete day or multiform media interviews with travel, we do compensate out-of-pocket losses and fees."

A orator for Mr Barnes reportedly pronounced that he knew zero about the payments.

Representatives for Miss Brand, Mr Hoult, Ms Page, Mr Bailey, Mr Kane and Ms Long could not be reached for comment.