BERR Ref 09/1093

Heather Brooke
[FOI #15305 email]

25 August 2009

Dear Ms Brooke,

I refer to your request of 16 July 2009 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information for the past three years:

1. The number of staff (full-time equivalent) working in marketing, external communications and press offices.

2. The number of dedicated Freedom of Information officers (full-time equivalent)

3. Total staffing cost of marketing, external communications and press officers.

4. Total staffing cost of dedicated Freedom of Information staff.

5. Total spending on marketing, external communications and press offices.

6. Total spending on Freedom of Information.

7. If the department produces a newsletter then the name of this publication and all associated costs.

This reply includes information relating to the former Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), the former Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the former Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). BERR, DIUS and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) were created from the DTI and the former Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in June 2007. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was created on 5 June 2009 by merging BERR and DIUS.

1. The number of staff (full-time equivalent) working in marketing, external communications and press offices:

2006/07 These figures are for the former DTI.

Full time equivalents on 1 April 2006 working in:

Marketing team and stakeholder 27.8

management team

Press Office 15

2007/08 These figures for the former DTI up to the creation of BERR in June 2007 and subsequently for BERR.

Full time equivalents on 1 April 2007 working in:

Marketing team and stakeholder 28.8

management team

Press Office 21.9

2008/09 These figures are for BERR

Full time equivalents on 1 April 2008 working in:

Marketing and stakeholder 30.6

management team

Press Office 23.8

2008/09 These figures are for DIUS.

Press Office 14

Marketing and external communications 20

2. The number of dedicated Freedom of Information officers (full-time equivalent)

2006/07 DTI 6

2007/08 DTI and BERR 6

2008/09 BERR 7

DIUS used a shared service agreement with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for information rights (which included FOI), so did not have any dedicated

Freedom of Information officers.

3. Total staffing costs for:

2006/07 DTI

Marketing team £1,305,000

Press Office £1,023,000

2007/08 DTI and BERR

Marketing team £1,378,000

Press Office £1,095,000

2008/09 BERR

Marketing team £1,318,000

Press Office £1,065,000

2008/09 DIUS

Marketing team £1,105,000

Press Office £ 766,000

4. Total staffing cost of dedicated Freedom of Information staff:

2006/07

DTI £ 280,197

2007/08

DTI and BERR £ 306,205

2008/09

BERR £ 443,899

5. Total spending on marketing, external communications and press offices.

We have interpreted this as the total of staff pay costs and the non pay costs for each section.

These include items such as press cuttings service for the Press Office and the marketing team's contribution to major campaigns such as the Real Help cross government campaign. It excludes spend on marketing incurred by policy teams.

The non pay costs are:

2006/07 DTI Total spending including pay costs as above

Marketing team £ 776,000 £2,081,000

Press Office £ 530,000 £1,553,000

2007/08 DTI and BERR

Marketing team £ 440,000 £1,818,000

Press Office £ 756,000 £1,851,000

2008/09 BERR

Marketing team £1,243,000 £2,348,000

Press Office £ 549,000 £1,614,000

2008/09 DIUS

External communications £2,774.000 £3,879,000

Press office £ 525,000 £1,291,000

6. Total spending on Freedom of Information

These cover the office costs for dedicated FOI staff, including the cost of space, utilities and the costs of information and communications technology (ICT) desktop services.

Non pay costs Total spending including pay costs as above

2006/07 DTI £ 62,942 £ 343,139

2007/08 DTI and BERR £ 62,942 £ 369,147

2008/09 BERR £ 83,896 £ 527,795

This does not include any costs associated with staff elsewhere in the Department who answer FOI requests. As this is work spread across the Department and varies considerably in terms of who answers, we would not be able to provide this information.

7. BIS does not produce an external printed newsletter. BIS produces a monthly Further Education and Skills E-newsletter, which goes to 4610 people. The costs of producing this are minimal - estimated to be between one to two days per month of one member of staff equating to a few hundred pounds per edition.

Appeals procedure

If you are unhappy with the result of your request for information, you may request an internal review within two calendar months of the date of this letter. If you wish to request an internal review please contact me.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office

           Wycliffe House

           Water Lane

           Wilmslow

           Cheshire

          SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

George O'Neill

Deputy Director, Stakeholder Communications

Continuation 2

Communications Directorate, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET

www.bis.gov.uk

george.o'[email address]

Direct line +44 (0)20 7215 5957

Minicom +44 (0)20 7215 6740

Enquiries +44 (0)20 7215 5000