§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed in the Department to work in the communications field, and what the total expenditure on communications for the Department was, broken down by(a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisors and (iii) others, in (A) 1994–95, (B) 1996–97, (C) 1997–98 and (D) 2001–02. [168677]
§ Mr. McNulty(A) 17 permanent press officers, all members of the then Government Information Service (GIS), were employed by the former Department of Transport (central)'s Information Division in 1994–95. Further information for this financial year about numbers of other staff and salary costs of these and press officers is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
(B) Detailed information on the numbers and salary costs of permanent press officers, members of the then GIS, employed in departmental press offices, including the former Department of Transport (c) for the financial year 1996–97, was provided in a memorandum dated 16 June 1998 to the Select Committee on Public Administration and published in its report on the Government Information and Communication Service (HC 770) in July 1998 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmpubadm/770/77002.htm). Copies are in the Libraries of the House. Information for other staff is not available in a comparable format and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. (C-D) Information for each of the financial years 1997–98 and 2001–02, when transport policy formed part of the remit of the former Departments of Environment, Transport and the Regions and Transport, Local Government and the Regions (respectively), is not available in a comparable format.
The Special Advisers' Code of Conduct sets out the sort of work a special adviser may undertake on behalf of their Minister. This can include communications activity. Details of the costs of Special Advisers are given on an annual basis.