§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff are employed in the Department to work in the communications field, broken down by(a) Government Information and communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) others. [158164]
§ Mr. CaplinAs of 15 March 2004, there were 130 people employed within the communications organisation in the Ministry of Defence Headquarters. Of these, 24 are members of the Government Information and Communication Service. Of the remainder, seven work in the Press Office and the others are employed on a wide range of tasks including design, publicity, marketing, internal communications and strategic planning.
Ministers in the department have two special advisers, neither of whom are members of the communications organisation. The Special Advisers' Code of Conduct sets out the sort of work a special adviser may undertake on behalf of their Minister and this includes communications activity.
In addition to the above, a number of people are employed, either wholly or partly, in communications related work throughout defence. These include staff
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The Naval Service Unit Cannabis Amphetamines Ecstasy Cocaine Heroin Ships HMS Argyle 1 HMS Atherstone 1 HMS Brecon 1 HMS Cardiff 4 HMS Enterprise 1 HMS Exeter 1 1 1 HMS Glasgow 1 1 HMS Gloucester 1 1 HMS Invincible 1 1 1 1 HMS Marlborough 1 HMS Richmond 1 HMS Southampton 1 HMS Westminster 1 HMS York 1 1 Shore Establishments Britannia Royal Naval College 1 Directorate of Naval Recruiting 1 HMS Collingwood 1 2 1 HMS Drake 1 1 working in defence agencies, the permanent joint Headquarters, single service commands and individual military units. Accurate information on all of these posts is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total expenditure on communications for his Department has been in 2003–04, broken down by expenditure on(a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) others. [158211]
§ Mr. CaplinThe cost of staff employed within the communications organisation in the Ministry of Defence headquarters is expected to be in the region of £5.9 million for 2003–04; of this, around £1 million is attributable to members of the Government Information and Communication Service (GICS). Of the remainder, around £0.3 million relates to non-GICS staff in the press office and the balance of the cost is for staff employed on a wide range of tasks including design, publicity, marketing, internal communications and strategic planning.
The Special Advisers' Code of Conduct sets out the sort of work a special adviser may undertake on behalf of their Minister and this includes communications activity. Details of the costs of special advisers are given on an annual basis. Information for the financial year 2003–04 will be published in due course.
Costs for staff employed in communications elsewhere in the Department are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.