42. Mr. Creech Jonesasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Information what staff is employed by him out of this country; who are his representatives abroad; and what salaries and other allowances are paid?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Information (Sir Edward Grigg)The Ministry of Information employs Press attaches or Press officers at 46 places abroad. The remuneration (including salaries and allowances) of these officers varies from £300 to £1,500. The latter figure is exceeded only in the case of two officers who are in charge of special war-time organisations working under the Ministry in the Near East and in the Far East respectively. The Press attachés employed under the Foreign Office in peace-time have been transferred to the Ministry and are included in these figures. The new appointments are provisional, and have been made under authority given, with Treasury approval, immediately before the outbreak of war, to His Majesty's representatives at places abroad at which the proper presentation of the British case in war-time was held to be desirable. The appointments are now being reviewed. As a limited discretion was left to His Majesty's representatives in the original engagement of local staff, and the review has not yet been completed, it is not possible to say with absolute exactness how many persons are at any moment working for the Ministry abroad, but the total number of persons whose appointment has so far been approved or proposed, including subordinates, is about 180.