To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was spent by her Department on public relations in each of the last five years. (139424)

The following totals have been identified as having been spent on public relations by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO):

The figures for FY 2006-07 are not available as the 2006-07 resource accounts are currently being audited by the National Audit Office.

The aforementioned figures are for expenditure explicitly identified, according to the FCO’s accounting systems, as public relations expenditure. Invoices charged to account codes for specific events or projects in these years are likely to have included public relations activities, but it is not possible to identify the public relations elements of this expenditure without incurring disproportionate cost.

In addition, the FCO Communication’s Directorate (including Press Office, Stakeholder Management and Public Diplomacy departments, for example) undertakes public relations work. It is not possible to identify this expenditure.