§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many(a) civil servants and (b) special advisers involved in media relations were employed within his Department at 1 May (i) 1997, (ii) 1998 and (iii) 1999. [84193]
§ Mr. HoonDetailed information on the numbers of permanent civil servants employed in Departmental Press Offices during the financial years 1997–98 and 1998–99 was provided in a memorandum to the Select Committee on Public Administration and published in its report on 'The Government Information and Communication Service' (HC 770) in July 1998. A copy is in the Library of the House. There are at present 17.7 such staff in the FCO.
Special Advisers in this Department have ad hoc contact with the media but none are specifically employed in media relations.