Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff in his Department are managing ministerial social media accounts as (a) their primary responsibility and (b) part of their role as of 21 February 2022.

The information is not held in the format requested. In addition to the Civil Service Code, the Government Communications Service offers propriety in digital and social media guidance and is available to discuss questions relating to social media when working with ministers.

The Department employs an in-house social media team to use digital channels and create content to communicate departmental policies online. It is often appropriate for content relating to Government policies, guidance and announcements, created by civil servants, to be amplified or posted on other channels including ministers' own social media accounts where this facilitates wider engagement from the public. Content creation is one part of the digital team’s responsibilities, there is no individual cost per video or graphic created. The creation of these assets, as well with other communications products, is funded by the Department’s Communications Directorate staffing budget.