To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx

 

Our ref: DE00000434571

 

 

 

Dear Ms Brooke,

 

Thank you for your email of 29 July to the Department of Health requesting, under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, details about Departmental spending on FOI, communications and PR.  Your request has been passed to me for reply and I would like to apologise for the delay with which we are responding.

 

Specifically, you request information for the last three years relating to:

 

1)     the number of staff (full-time equivalent, or FTE ) working in marketing, external communications and press offices;

2)     the number of dedicated Freedom of Information officers ( FTE );

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; and

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

 

The Department of Health holds the following information in relation to your request.

 

Number of press officers employed by the Department of Health Media Centre, 2006-07 to 2008-09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costs for Department of Health Media Centre Staff, 2006-07 to 2008-09       

 

 

 

Figures exclude social security and pension costs and include costs for all staff who work in Media Centre.

 

Total spend on Department of Health Media Centre, 2006-07 to 2008-09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of marketing staff employed by the Department of Health 2006-07 to 2008-09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costs for Department of Health Marketing staff, 2006-07 to 2008-09  

 

 

Figures exclude social security and pension costs.

 

Total spending on Publicity and Advertising 2006-07 to 2008-09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The source of this information is Departmental annual reports

 

These figures represent projected totals for advertising-led campaigns delivered in the course of 2006-07 to 2008-09.  They should not be considered the total for all communications expenditure in the course of the year, which would incorporate a wider range of activity (e.g. stakeholder events).

 

Freedom of Information Officers employed by Department of Health (figures as at 1 April for each financial year)

 

 

Figures exclude superannuation and employers national insurance costs.

 

I have included figures for FY 2009/10 as I think this will provide you with a clearer picture of the current situation.   By way of background, prior to April this year, the responsibility for Freedom of Information had been split between two different divisions and two different buildings.  These were merged on 1 April into one strengthened team.

 

In addition, one officer in the Connecting for Health team does reply to the majority of relevant FOI requests, but is not dedicated solely to FOI work.  I have not included this post in the above totals as I am advised that it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of time spent on dedicated FOI work.

 

Total spending on Freedom of Information is not held by the Department of Health for any of the time periods specified in your request.  The largest cost outside of staffing is likely to be legal advice.  It may be helpful if I explain that legal advice to the FOI team is provided by DH Legal Services (DHLS) which is based in the Department of Work and Pensions.  DHLS provides legal advice to the Department as a whole as part of a Service Level Agreement and work for individual teams is neither itemised nor held.

 

With relation to question 7, I can confirm that the Department operates two internal newsletters – Hugh Taylor’s Update and the Managers’ Briefing.  However, to extract this information, calculating the cost of authorship, editing, and related costs over the past three years, for each article in each issue, would exceed the appropriate limit as defined by s12 of the FOI Act.  Section 12 of the FOI Act allows public bodies to withhold information where the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit of 3.5 working days or £600.

 

If you have any queries about this response, please contact me.  Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

 

I hope this reply is helpful.  If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:

 

Head of the Freedom of Information Team

Department of Health

Room 317

Richmond House

79 Whitehall

London

SW1A 2NS

  

Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxx.xxx.xx

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Department.  The ICO can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Aimee Gasston

Freedom of Information Officer

Department of Health