asked the Secretary of State for the Environment 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 information officers in my Department, including the Property Services Agency, Building Research Establishment, and Fire Research Station, in these years are:

January 1976	94	£535,000*
January 1977	83	£515,000
January 1978	72	£467,000
January 1979	56	£407,000
January 1980	52	£519,000
* The Department then included the present Department of Transport.

The information officer group, in addition to press officers, includes information specialists in exhibitions, films, publications, advertising and editorial work. Since September 1976 my Department has provided a common service to the Department of Transport on films, publications and exhibitions.