§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the annual cost of his Department's public relations section during each of the last five years.
§ Mr. FowlerMy Department has no section which can be separately identified as public relations. Functions commonly associated with public relations are carried out by Information Officers as part of their duties in the Department's information division.
The following table contains total costs for all professional Information Officers employed in the Department's press office and publicity branch, 1980–84, plus the director and deputy director of information, and the staff of the Departmental house journal.
The figures are average salary costs* and take account of the inner London pay area but do not include costs for common services nor for non-professional support staff.
Year Information officers in post Total salary (£) 1980 20 323,077 1981 20 252,245 1982 19 342,521 1983 19 361,242 1984 19 370,365