HC Deb 11 March 2004 vol 418 c1697W
Matthew Taylor

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total expenditure on communications for his Department has been in 2003–04, broken down by expenditure on(a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) others. [158207]

Mr. Lammy

The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), which includes its agencies—the Court Service and the Public Guardianship Office (PGO)— employs 60 staff in communications work. This figure comprises 24 staff of the Government Information and Communication Service (GICS) and 36 others.

Amount (£)
Department for constitutional affairs HQ
(a) GICS 918,187
(b) Other staff
(i) Press officers1 35,232
(ii) Special advisers 2
(iii) Others 351,979
Court service
(a) GICS 0
(b) Other staff
(i) Press officers 0
(ii) Special advisers 0
(iii) Others 603,185
Public Guardianship Office
(a) GICS 0
(b) Other staff
(i) Press officers1 63,150
(ii) Special advisers 0
(iii) Others 80,525
1 Non GICS.
2 The Special Advisers' Code of Conduct sets out the sort of work a special adviser may undertake on behalf of their Minister. This includes communications activity. Details of the costs of Special Advisers are given on an annual basis. Information for the financial year 2003–04 will be published in due course.
Notes:
1. All figures include forecast expenditure for February and March 2003–04.
2. 'Others' includes staff working on publications. publicity, internal communications, websites and administration.