§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 9 March 2000,Official Report, column 821W and the answer to my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) of 2 March 2000, Official Report, column 385W, if he will publish the total number of persons employed in the Home Office Press Office broken down by grade, for (a) (i) 1 May 1997, (ii) 1 January 1998, (iii) 1 January 1999 and (iv) 1 January 2000; and (b) as an average for the year ending 1 March over (i) 1996–97; (ii) 1997–98; (iii) 1998–99 and (iv) 1999–2000. [115059]
§ Mr. StrawAs I said in my reply to the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) on 2 March 2000,Official Report, column 385W, records of staff numbers are, of necessity, 381W a snapshot of a particular month and cannot take fully into account staff arrivals and departures which are happening on a working basis.
The total number of persons employed in the Home Office Press Office, broken down by grade for the dates in question, were:
1 May 1997: three Senior Information Officers, 10 Information Officers (two part-time), one Assistant Information Officer, a Higher Executive Officer on secondment, one Executive Officer, one Administrative Officer and two Administrative Assistants;January 1998: three Senior Information Officers, 11 Information Officers (two part-time), one Executive Officer, one Administrative Officer and two Administrative Assistants;January 1999: two Senior Information Officers, eight Information Officers (two part-time), three Assistant Information Officers, one Higher Executive Officer on secondment, one Executive Officer, one Administrative Officer and two Administrative Assistants; andJanuary 2000: three Senior Information Officers, six Information Officers, three Assistant Information Officers, one Higher Executive Officer, one Executive Officer, one Administrative Officer and two Administrative Assistants.For all these periods, the Home Office Press Office was managed by an Assistant Director at either Grade 7 or temporary Grade 6 level.
At virtually no time since May 1997 has the full staff complement been reached. There have been a considerable number of vacancies at various grades at any one time. Attachments and secondees, some at no cost to the Department and some for less than six weeks' duration, make the calculation of average staff levels almost meaningless.
In addition at various times through this period, Chief Immigration Officers were on six month attachment to the Home Office Press Office. It should also be noted that the grades referred to are substantive grades and that at various times press officers may have been on temporary promotion to a higher grade.
The staff details supplied to the Select Committee on Public Administration and published in its report in July 1998 are averages for the years in question and an average for the year to 1 March for the years 1996–97 and 1997–98 would vary very little.
It would not be possible to obtain the averages for 1998–99 and for 1999–2000 without disproportionate costs.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to employ members of the Home Office Press Office on special adviser terms; which of his special advisers are authorised to speak to the press on his behalf; if they are required to consult the Home Office Press Office before doing so; if a record is kept; and if he will make a statement. [115036]
§ Mr. StrawThere are no plans to employ members of the Home Office Press Office on special adviser terms. Of two special advisers at the Home Office, appointed by the Home Secretary under terms and conditions set out in the model contract for special advisers, one (Ed Owen) supports Ministers in the presentational aspects of policy and in doing so has regular direct contact with the media and liaises with the Home Office Press Office.