§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many press releases were issued by his Department in the financial years(a) 1996–97, (b) 1997–98, (c) 1998–99 and (d) 1999–2000; how many have been issued in the current financial year; and what his estimate is of the total number for the current financial year. [149249]
§ Mr. Chris Smith[holding answer 8 February 2001]: The number of press releases issued by my Department for the following financial years are as follows:
706W
Year Press releases 1996–97 411 1997–98 314 1998–99 334 1999–2000 294 Over the same period my Department has also issued 116 invitations to the media.
For the current financial year 2000–01, my Department has issued 300 releases to date.