Pursuant to the answer provided on 4 June 2007, Official Report, column 19W, on the Department’s legal costs, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) expenditure is broken down as follows:
Legal fees 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 (a) Public Prosecution Service 5,005,857 5,374,952 6,357,772 6,783,071 9,858,615 (b) Bloody Sunday Inquiry 9,746 3,000 12,361 1,733 65.310 (c) Finucane, Nelson, Hamill and Wright Inquiries 0 1,733 110 15,177 10,408 (d) Crown Solicitors Office 160,958 87,391 301,283 364,638 230,164 (e) Other parts of NIO Department 337,587 117,413 332,880 169,411 705,432 Total 5,514,148 5,584,489 7,004,406 7,334,030 10,869,929
The hon. Member should note that the total figures have changed from the answer given on 4 June 2007, Official Report, column 19W. Some legal costs were omitted in error for which I apologise.
The original answer should have read:
“The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), excluding its agencies and NDPBs, has spent the following on legal fees in each of the last five years:
Legal fees (£) 2002-03 5,514,148 2003-04 5,584,489 2004-05 7,004,406 2005-06 7,334,030 2006-07 10,869,929
Legal fees for the NIO have risen substantially in 2006-07, mainly due to expenditure by the Public Prosecution Service on the Omagh bomb trial, and also on the trial of James Fulton and his associates, which proved to be the longest murder trial in NI history. These two cases alone have accounted for an increase in legal expenditure of £2 million. Scale fees for counsel also increased in April 2006, the first increase in a number of years, and this also contributed to overall increase in 06/07.”