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Written question asked by Lord Hammond of Runnymede (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 March 2010. It was answered by Lord Wills (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Departmental Information Officers

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to his Department was of employing press and media officers in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department was of employing such staff in the financial year 1996-97, expressed in current prices.
Answer

The Ministry of Justice press office operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, dealing with all media relations for the Department and its agencies from the international, national and regional media. Communications in all its forms is an important element of ensuring that the public know and understand the work of the Ministry of Justice and its agencies and how taxpayers' money is being spent.Information relating to the Lord Chancellors' Department (the Ministry of Justice's last but one predecessor) could be retrieved only at disproportionate cost.Press officersThe cost of press officers, including contractors and agency staff and excluding support staff, is as follows:

£000
2008:09 2,219

Communications officersMedia officers are interpreted as communications officers in this answer. They include intranet/internet staff, event organisation, marketing and publishing staff and others involved in communications roles. Expenditure, including contractors and agency staff within the head office team, is as follows:

£000
2008:09 4,694

The costs of press officers and communications officers relate to Ministry of Justice headquarters and its four executive agencies (HM Courts Service, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), the Tribunals Service and the Office of the Public Guardian).

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
508 c1076W; 324798
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Ministry of Justice Information officers
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk