§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department further to his answer of 17 March 2000,Official Report, columns 380–81W, on the Press Office, for what reason disproportionate costs would be involved in calculating the average number of persons employed in the Home Office Press Office in 1998–99 and 1999–2000; what was the cost of the calculation of the statistics for 1996–97 and 1997–98; and if he will make a statement. [115990]
§ Mr. StrawPress Office staff levels have varied considerably over the last four years, have been augmented by seconded staff, by long and short-term attachments and there have been large numbers of vacancies at different times. Detailed staff number profiles for the periods in question are not held within the Communication Directorate. Central pay records would have to be searched month by month for the periods in question and these would not include all the attachments and secondments, many of which were not funded within the Directorate. The cost would, therefore, be disproportionate. No-one currently employed in the Communication Directorate was involved in providing the statistics for the Public Administration Committee and there is no record of the cost of obtaining the data.