“This is an information request to establish how many press officers your organisation employs, and your spending on speeches. This is for years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Please note, if your organisation has taken part in a merger with any other local authority since the relevant timeframe, please include the relevant data for that ‘legacy council’.
Please include the following information:
1. How many members of staff work as press officers in each of 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. This figure should include any members of staff whose main duty is press relations, public relations, communications and social media. Your response should include both full-time and part-time members of staff, as well as any on any irregular contracts, such as consultants.
| Year | Budgeted Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) | Actual Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) | Comments |
| 2016/17 | 4.78 | 4.78 | |
| 2017/18 | 4.78 | 4.00 | 0.78 FTE on mat leave for entire year. |
| 2018/19 | 4.78 | 4.65 | 0.78 returned from mat leave April 2018 and reduced to 0.65 FTE. |
2. How much was spent on speeches and presentations with outside bodies in each of 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19? Speeches and presentations with outside bodies includes, but is not limited to, firms who provide strategic communications, public affairs, advertising and consultancy services. The speeches and presentations includes only those that were commissioned by your authority, with the intention of your authority’s staff delivering the speech or presentation.”
Devon County Council (DCC) does not have this specific expenditure segregated in its accounts. However, we can confirm that there has been no corporate expenditure on speeches and presentations with outside bodies in 2016–17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.