§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have been employed by his Department's press and public relations office in each of the past five years; and what has been the annual budget for that office over the same period.
§ Mr. RidleyStaff numbers and costs for the information division of my Department are available only 303W for the last four years. Before that, organisational and costing arrangements reflected a gradual change from the point where all information functions were performed within the information directorate of the Department of the Environment. From 1982–83, my Department's information staff and operating costs were separately identifiable, although some continued to provide a common service to the Department of the Environment and the Department of Transport. The scale of information division work also grew from 1983 as a result of the transfer of marine, aviation and other policy responsibilities from the Department of Trade to my Department.
The table shows, for the four most recent years, the numbers and costs of the specialist and support staff in my Department's information division.
Staff in Post (at 1 January) Cost at outturn prices (£'000) 1982–83 18 409 1983–84 28 559 1984–85 36 760 1985–86 35 758