The Department came into being in July 2001. From information held centrally, the core-Department has spent the following sums on external legal payments in each of the past five years:
Financial year Value (£) 2002-03 12,167,098 2002-04 7,692,318 2004-05 13,074,870 2005-06 5,801,097 2006-07 to date 1,874,672
The core-Department does not hold details centrally of any expenditure on external legal services incurred by DEFRA’s agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.