§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each(a) year and (b) quarter from 1995–96 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [92475]
§ Mr. McCartneyI refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) on 27 February 2002, and the answer given to the hon. Member for North Tayside (Pete Wishart) on 17 June 2002.
The Department of Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001. This involved the amalgamation of parts of the Department for Education and Employment (including the Employment Service) with the Department of Social Security. In April 2000, the BA and CSA Press Offices merged with the DSS team, and consequently from that date all Press Releases were categorised as DSS.
It is not possible to dis-aggregate those press releases issued by DfEE relating solely to employment issues in the period requested. However, the press releases issued by the former DSS and the DWP are as follows.
979WThe quarterly breakdown is only available for 2002, as the information on previous years is inaccessible.
2002 January to March 95 April to June 78 July to September 73 October to December 89