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Legal Costs

Answer

The table details the Department's spend on internal and external legal costs incurred for legal representation and advice provided to HM Treasury for the financial years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013 to 31 January 2014. The Department's financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

It is not possible, without separately analysing each invoice, to confirm whether all the Department's legal spend is captured in these figures. To do this would take the cost of responding to the question over the disproportionate cost threshold.

These figures include but are not limited to the case management services provided by the Treasury Solicitor's Department and external legal advice and representation provided by solicitors and barristers. It is not possible to provide a more detailed breakdown of the fees without exceeding the disproportionate cost threshold. The figures represent actual cost to the Department and therefore only include VAT to the extent such VAT is irrecoverable.

The Department's records of legal spend do not separate legal representation and legal advice. Disaggregating the data would take the cost of responding to the question over the disproportionate cost threshold.

Our records of legal spend do not contain details of the purpose of each item of legal spend. Each invoice would have to be separately analysed to establish the matter concerned and then further analysed to establish the purpose. This would take the cost of responding to the question over the disproportionate cost threshold.

The Executive Agencies accounted for within the figures are the Asset Protection Agency for the financial years 2010-11 and 2011-12 and the Debt Management Office. The Asset Protection Agency ceased to be an. Executive Agency in October 2012.

The Divisions of the Department accounted for within these figures are:

UK Financial Investments (UKFI);

Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR);

Office of Tax Simplification (OTS);

Infrastructure UK (IUK);

Government Actuaries Department (GAD); and

National Savings and Investments (NS&I).

	HMT legal costs (£ million)
2008-09	10,943,871.11
2009-10	18,518,800.48
2010-11	4,154,551.49
2011-12	5,673,682.71
2012-13	5,041,254.62

The following points should be noted:

It is not possible to disaggregate costs further without incurring considerable costs in retrieval and analysis of individual invoices which make up these figures, and which are held in remote storage.

These figures include fees paid to external law firms for the purpose of debt collection. Disaggregating these fees will incur considerable costs.

Legal representation and advice incurred by GAD and NS&I only include costs paid to the Treasury Solicitor's Department. The Department has not been able to obtain any additional information on costs for legal representation and advice incurred by GAD and NS&I at the time of answering this question.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

187801; 576 cc754-5W

Session

2013-14

Subjects

Legal costs Treasury

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk