HC Deb 10 January 1989 vol 144 c538W
Mr. Livingstone

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a table showing the annual expenditure by his Department on the Army information services from 1972 to the current date.

Mr. Neubert

The Army information services is the name by which the public relations unit in Northern Ireland is known. The major expenditure is that of salaries and associated costs. Approximate figures for the years 1983 to 1988 are as follows:

Year £
1983–84 216,000
1984–85 230,000
1985–86 240,000
1986–87 122,000
1987–88 130,000
1988–89 140,000

The reduction in costs in 1986 onwards is as a result of a cut in staff numbers following a review of public relations numbers. Details for earlier years or more detailed costings cannot be provided without disproportionate cost.