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Departmental Information Officers

Volume 479: debated on Monday 21 July 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the average cost to his Department was of employing a press and media officer in 2007-08. (215192)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) employs press and media officers in London and in our missions overseas. Locally-engaged staff are recruited and paid locally and have varying terms and conditions of service. We do not hold information centrally on these staff. It is not possible therefore to provide an overall average global figure without incurring disproportionate costs.

Press and media officers employed in the UK and those recruited in the UK but working at our missions overseas are paid in line with all other FCO staff. The average cost to the FCO of a press and media officer in the UK in 2007-08 was £38,813. Those working in London also received a London location allowance of £3,000. This is the average cost of a member of staff working in the grades below the senior management structure (senior civil service).