§ Mr. Freudasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 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. Buchanan-SmithThe information is follows:
Number of Information Group Officers Cost £ 1 January 1977 10 72,000 1 January 1978 12 92,000 1 January 1979 11 98,000 1 January 1980 13 125,000 1 November 1981 15 177,000 The information officer group, in addition to press and public relations officers, includes information specialists in, for example, exhibitions and publications. This increase in numbers is due to some posts formerly held by administrative staff being taken by information officers and to the filling of vacancies.