§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 1 February 2002,Official Report, column 596W, what the total area in square feet of all empty properties owned by (a) his Department, (b) his agencies and (c) other public bodies for which he has responsibility was in each year since May 1997 [37917]
§ Dr. MoonieOther than information held concerning the dimension of offices within the Ministry of Defence, no central records are presently maintained about the size of empty properties owned by the Department, or agencies or public bodies for which I am responsible. Information on such statistics could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many(a) special advisers and (b) press officers were employed (i) full-time, (ii) part-time and (iii) on a contract basis by his Department in each year since 1992. (6937)
§ Dr. MoonieI refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 21 November 2001,Official Report, column 340, by my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Mr. Leslie).
Information about the number of press officers working in the Ministry of Defence Press Office for the period form 1996–97 to 1998–99 is contained in Appendix 10 of the Report on the Government Information and Communication Service by the Public Administration Select Committee dated 29 July 1998. Copies of the report are available in the Libraries of the House. The number of press officers employed in the Department's Corporate Commissions division Headquarters Press Office during the financial years 1999–2000 and 2000–01 was 13 and 25 respectively. The difference in the figures relates to staff turnover throughout the year. In addition, the Defence Agencies, the Permanent Joint Headquarters, and the single Service Commands and units also employ personnel with a press officer function, some as a secondary task to their main roles. Accurate information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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