Information Commissioner: Manpower
Justice
Written answers and statements, 3 July 2007
Oliver Heald (Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs & Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Assisted By Shadow Solicitor General), Constitutional Affairs; North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what public expenditure was incurred by the Information Commissioner's office in hiring (a) public affairs companies and consultants and (b) public relations companies and consultants, in each year since its creation.
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)
The Information requested has been provided by the Information Commissioner's Office, an independent body created by statute with responsibility for handling complaints made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998. Since its creation in January 2001, it has incurred costs for public relations companies as set out in the following table. There has been no expenditure on public affairs consultants or agencies and no expenditure on public relations consultants.
| Financial year ending 31 March | |
| £ | |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2003 | 35,250 |
| 2004 | 100,984 |
| 2005 | 189,852 |
| 2006 | 270,534 |
| 2007 | 304,249 |