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Written question asked by Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Earl Attlee (Conservative) on Wednesday, 2 November 2011.

Government Departments: Legal Fees

Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money was spent on legal fees by the Department for Transport in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and what is the estimated expenditure for 2011 and 2012; andhow many civil service employees working on legal matters did the Department for Transport have in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and what are the estimated numbers for 2011 and 2012.
Answer

The Department for Transport and its seven executive agencies incur expenditure on a range of legal services each year. To confirm that expenditure for the years 2008-10 and the estimated expenditure for the years 2011-12 would incur a disproportionate cost. However the following information is readily available. The department employs qualified lawyers as civil servants to deal with legal matters. The numbers of lawyers employed for the requested periods are: 2008-09—85; 2009-10—87; 2010-11—69; and 2011-12—72. The above figures include one lawyer based at the DVLA in Swansea. Excluding the costs of the department’s own Legal Service, the following sums have been spent on legal fees (or it is estimated that they will spent).

2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 (Estimate)
DfT (Central Department) * * £6,638,975 (not known)
Highways Agency * £7,171,952 £5,568,757 (not known)
Vehicle Certification Agency £3,764 £6,045 £4,992 £6,500
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency * * £232,502 £306,132
Maritime and Coastguard Agency £146,955 £153,207 £378,421 £311,000

* Information not available without incurring disproportionate cost.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
11997; 731 c264-5WA
Session
2010-12
Related items
Government Departments: Legal Fees
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects
Civil servants Department for Transport Legal profession Expenditure Legal opinion Staff
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk