asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will publish in the Official Report the number, and the average cost, of information officers employed by his Department, at the beginning of each of the last four years.

The number and cost of officers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's news department were as follows:

	Numbers of staff	Average cost per head
1 January 1976	13	7,100
1 January 1977	13	7,500
1 January 1978	12	8,500
1 January 1979	12	10,600
1 January 1980	12	11,800

The information officer group in the Overseas Development Administration including specialists in exhibitions, publications and publicity in addition to press and public relations officers, numbered as follows:

	Numbers of staff	Average cost per head
		£
1 January 1976	11	7,800
1 January 1977	10	7,800
1 January 1978	10	8,800
1 January 1979	9	10,800
1 January 1980	9	12,100