Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many press or public relations officers are employed by (a) Ofgem, (b) the Oil and Gas Authority, (c) the Civil Nuclear Police Authority, (d) the Coal Authority, (e) the Committee on Climate Change and (f) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; how many of those staff earn more that (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total cost is of running the press office in each of those organisations in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Andrea Leadsom
The most recent information for each of the bodies is:
a) Ofgem
Ofgem employs a small team of six press officers. The total cost of running the press office including pay, pensions and all other costswas £642,000 in the financial year April 2014 to Mar 2015.
b) Oil and Gas Authority
The Oil and Gas Authority has a small communications and external affairs team, currently consisting of four staff. There is no dedicated press officer.
For 2015/16 costs for this team (including IT, staff costs & necessary subscriptions) are projected to be c£203,000.
c) Civil Nuclear Police Authority
The Civil Nuclear Constabularly/Civil Nuclear Police Authority employs a total of two members of staff: a Head of Engagement and Communications and one Communications Manager. It has no press or public relations officers. The only costs of running this small communications team are salary costs.
d) Coal Authority
There are two members of staff (one of which is part-time) working on press and public relations in the Coal Authority. The only costs of running this team is salary cost plus £7,300 establishment costs for the year.
e) Committee on Climate Change
There are two members of staff in the Committee on Climate Change Communications Team. The running costs of the team are salary costs plus other running costs (e.g. IT, website) of £18,934.
f) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority does not have a press office. Two members of staff have responsibility for media relations as a substantive part of their role: the Head of Stakeholder Communications and Corporate Communications Manager.
Given the small size of these teams, providing the information requested on salaries would enable individual members of staff to be identified. This information has not, therefore, been provided.
