Shropshire Council defends size of comms team after claims it employed more press officers than several major government departments

The council came under fire from the Taxpayer's Alliance after a Freedom of Information request revealed that the authority employed 19 press officers.

But Michele Leith, Shropshire Council’s director of workforce and transformation, said the figure was misleading as the staff had other duties on top of their media roles.

Mrs Leith said of the 19 workers, 11 of these were in the communications department, with one of the roles being part-time.

"Not just ‘press officers’, these carry out many different roles including public relations, design, internal communications and marketing," she said.

“We also employ eight other officers across the organisation who do marketing as part of their role.

"One example of this is within the theatre which operates on a commercial basis, bringing money back into the council so that it can spent on essential services.”

Spin

Mrs Leith said that the council was a large organisation which provided a wide-range of services.

"It is vital that we are able to ensure that our staff, residents and councillors are well informed," said Mrs Leith.

Councillor Roger Evans, leader of the authority's Liberal Democrat group said he was amazed given the amount of cutbacks the authority made that so many were employed in marketing and communications roles.

"This is one of the best stocked departments in the authority," he said.

"Preserving the council's reputation seems more important than actually helping people out."

The research found that councils throughout the UK employed an average of four press officers.

Scott Simmonds of the Taxpayers' Alliance said: "With council tax hammering hard-working families, town hall directors should question whether hiring more spin doctors than big government departments is the best use of taxpayers' money."