§ Mr. Norman Fowlerasked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the number of Press and information officers employed by the Government, breaking down the total between Government Departments, and giving an estimate of the total cost of these civil servants.
§ Mr. Charles R. Morris, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 11th November; Vol. 938, c. 255], gave the following information:
366WThe table below shows by Department the numbers of staff in post in the information Officer Group on 1st April 1977, the latest date for which figures are available. About one-fifth of the group are engaged wholly or partly in dealings with the editorial side of newspapers and broadcasting. The remainder are employed on a variety of work including films, exhibitions, export promotion, and censuses and surveys. It is estimated that the current salary cost of the Group is £.8.2 million a year.
Departments Total Civil Service Department … 21 Defence … 168 Education and Science … 19 Employment … 19 Energy … 22 Environment … 67 Health and Social Security … 20 Home Office … 25 Industry … 58 Central Office of Information … 558 National Savings … 13 Overseas Development … 11 Population Censuses and Surveys … 134 Prices and Consumer Protection … 17 Trade … 105 Transport … 20 Treasury and Sub Departments … 11 Welsh Office … 22 Scottish Office … 24 Other Departments … 95 Total 1,429