At a meeting of the London Assembly's Budget Committee this morning it was revealed that Mayor Ken Livingstone wants to recruit up to 14 more staff, 3 of who - at a cost of £700,000 - would be employed in the Mayor's Media and Marketing department.
In April 2001, the Mayor had 5 press officers working directly for him and 15 in total in the GLA's Media and Marketing Department. In September of this year there were 16 press officers in the Mayor's own department and 70 in City Hall's press office.
"The Mayor already has more spin doctors than Downing Street - another increase in press officers is the last thing London needs. He should be fixing the problems, not employing more people to tell us the problems don't exist."
