Revealed: Blair's 'image' taskforce

Tony Blair has launched Downing Street's first corporate communications department. The new unit, only revealed today, is based inside No10 and employs around 20 civil servants.

They are charged with communicating directly with the public by answering letters and running the website, cutting out the political journalists blamed for distorting Labour's message.

Baroness Morgan, the Prime Minister's director of political relations, is in charge. While most of its staff already worked in other parts of No10, their number was boosted when the unit was set up after last summer's election. The move will fuel suggestions that Mr Blair is running his Government in an increasingly centralised way.

The unit is charged with talking to other Whitehall departments to ensure a consistent message and delivery style, although staff say there is no question of dictating from the centre and that both sides can learn from one another.

The corporate communications department is separate from the press office which remains under the eye of Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's director of communications-The choice of name suggests New Labour's love affair with big business is far from over. City banks and FTSE-100 firms all have dedicated corporate communications departments, usually responsible for promoting the image of the firm and its directors while press officers are left to handle questions about operations.

The existence of the Downing Street unit is revealed in the latest edition of the IPO Directory, the journalists' contacts bible. It says staffing at the main No10 press office has risen from 12 to 17 in the past year. Not to be outdone, Chancellor Gordon Brown boosted the Treasury press office from 26 to 31.