§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Prime Minister how many Press officers have been employed in 10 Downing Street on 1st January in each year for the last 10 years; and what was their total cost to public funds in each year.
§ The Prime MinisterSeparate information about Press officers is not readily available for the whole of the period; the following information covers all staff employed in the Press Office at No. 10.
The estimated salary cost of the Press Office for 1976–77 is £73,000 for a current staff of nine, of whom seven are Press officers. The average number of staff employed in the Press Office for each of the last 10 years and the estimated salary cost, where available, is as follows:
Year Number of Staff Cost £ 1966–67 … 7 — 1967–68 … 7 — 1968–69 … 7 — 1969–70 … 8 22,000 1970–71 … 11 35,000 1971–72 … 11 38,000 1972–73 … 11 43,000 1973–74 … 11 52,000 1974–75 … 9 53,000 1975–76 … 8 59,000