§ 18. Sir T. Beamishasked the Minister for the Civil Service how many public relations and Press officers, on the criteria laid down in reply to a Question on 7th March, 1966, were employed in each Government department, shown separately, including the Post Office, at the latest available date; and what are the comparable figures for the same date in the previous four years and for 31st October, 1964.
§ Mr. George ThomsonI have been asked to reply.
I will, with permission, circulate the information in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Sir T. BeamishSince the total cost of employing something like 120 more P.R.O.s than any previous Government must be well over £500,000 a year, how does the right hon. Gentleman justify this, 11 bearing in mind the fact that it seems that the more P.R.O.S the Government employ, the more unpopular they become?
§ Mr. ThomsonApart from the party political points, I think that it is generally accepted by responsible people in this country that one of the problems of our increasingly complex society is that of communication. These information
| INFORMATION OFFICERS AND EQUIVALENTS IN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS' INFORMATION BRANCHES | |||||||
| Department | 31st October, 1964 | 1st March, 1965 | 1st March, 1966 | 1st March, 1967 | 1st March, 1968 | 1st March, 1969 | |
| Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | |
| Cabinet Office (CSO) | … | — | — | — | — | — | 1 |
| Cabinet Office (Paymaster General's Office) | … | — | — | — | — | — | 2 |
| Civil Service Department | … | — | — | — | — | — | 12 |
| Civil Service Commission | … | — | — | — | 3 | 4 | |
| Customs and Excise | … | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Decimal Currency Board | … | — | — | — | — | 1 | 6 |
| Defence | … | 76 | 85 | 92 | 95 | 96 | 99 |
| Economic Affairs | … | — | 9 | 11 | 11½ | 11 | 10 |
| Education and Science | … | 9 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 20½ | 21 |
| Employment and Productivity | … | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
| Export Credits Guarantee Department | … | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office: | … | — | — | — | — | — | 12 |
| *Foreign Office | … | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | — |
| Commonwealth Relations | |||||||
| Office | … | 7 | 7 | — | — | — | — |
| Colonial Office | … | 5 | 5 | — | — | — | — |
| Commonwealth Office | … | — | — | 8 | 10 | 8½ | — |
| Forestry Commission | … | 1 | 1 | 1 | l | 1 | 2 |
| Health | … | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 9 |
| Social Security | … | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Home Office | … | 10 | 10 | 11½ | 11½ | 14 | 15 |
| Housing and Local Government | 8 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 13 | |
| Land and Natural Resources | … | 2 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Central Office of Information† | … | 15 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 17 |
| Inland Revenue | … | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Land Commission | … | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 |
| National Savings Committee | … | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| National Savings Committee for Scotland | … | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Overseas Development | … | 4 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| Post Office | … | 51 | 51 | 55 | 65 | 81 | 98 |
| Power | … | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Privy Council Office | … | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | — |
| Public Building and Works | … | 10 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 15 |
| Scottish Home and Health Department | … | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 |
| Technology | … | 43½ | 45 | 46 | 45 | 42 | 42 |
| Board of Trade | … | 31 | 32 | 34 | 38 | 41 | 42 |
| Transport | … | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 23 | 28 |
| Treasury and sub-Departments | … | 15 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 6 |
| Welsh Office | … | — | — | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 372½ | 395 | 425½ | 462 | 504 | 534 | ||
| * These are the numbers of staff in the Press Offices in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Relations Office, and in the Information Branch of the Colonial Office. | |||||||
| † There is no Information Branch as such in the Central Office of Informaton; the numbers shown are staff on comparable duties. |
§ officers are designed to keep the channels of communication between the Government and the citizen flowing freely.
The following is the information:The numbers of information officers and equivalents in Government Departments' Information Branches were as below, on the dates shown. The duties of information officers are wider than those of public relations officers and Press officers which are not Civil Service grades.