To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people are employed in his Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997. [108394]

The staffing figures for the Press Office for 1997 are listed in Appendix 11 of the 6th report by the Select Committee on Public Administration of the GICS (1998). They show a total of 15.5 Press Officers.The current staffing figure is 22 Press Officers. In addition there are seven support administrative staff.