§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many information officers are currently employed by his Department; at what cost; and if he will give these figures in respect of each of the last four years.
§ Mr. PattieThe number of information officer group staff employed in the Department at 1 November 1981 was 146 at an approximate cost of £1,697,000 per annum, based on annual average salaries and employer's national insurance contributions. Similar data for the beginning of each of the last four calendar years were as follows:
Number Cost £,000s 1 January 1977 171 993 1 January 1978 155 985 1 January 1979 146 1,010 1 January 1980 145 1,305 The information officer group in the Ministry of Defence is chiefly concerned with press and public relations activities, but it also includes information specialists in exhibition, publication, paid publicity and film production work.