§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Lord Privy Seal how many members of his Department and of the Overseas Development Administration, respectively, of whatever grade or specialisation, are engaged whole or part-time in public and press relations, expressing the total in whole-time equivalents; and what is their total annual cost to public funds.
§ Mr. HurdThe present cost of the 12 officers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's news department is £160,000 and of the nine staff in the information officer group in the Overseas Development Administration is £111,000. Additionally, there are five support staff in the FCO's news department at a cost of £29,000; ODA has four and a half, costing £27,000.