§ Mr. RuffleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list(a) the London barristers' chambers and (b) the London solicitors' firms that have performed services for his Department (i) since 1 May 1997 and (ii) in the equivalent period preceding that date, indicating the remuneration paid in each particular case. [70039]
§ Mr. Michael[holding answer 8 February 1999]Welsh Office records indicate that during the years in question the following London barristers' chambers have been instructed directly by the Welsh Office or via the Treasury Solicitor's Office:
- Breams Buildings
- 1 Sergeants Inn
- Essex Street
- 1 Grays Inn Square
- 11 Kings Bench Walk
- 2 Hare Court
- Monkton Court.
There may also be other chambers who have been instructed by Treasury Solicitor's Office on behalf of the Welsh Office but for whom records are not readily available in the Welsh Office.
No London Solicitors' firms have been instructed by or on behalf of the Welsh Office during the past four years. The Welsh Office does not maintain a central continuous record of fees paid to Counsel over the four year period. The Treasury Solicitor's Department does not have such a record either.
My right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General appointed Philip Sales as first Junior Treasury Counsel (Common Law) and Jonathan Crow as First Junior Treasury Counsel (Chancery) to advise and represent the Government in their important civil cases. In addition, the Attorney-General maintains at present two London panels of junior Counsel whom Departments are expected 256W to use for the rest of the Government's civil litigation. The panels currently comprise 103 barristers from 42 different sets of chambers. The Attorney-General will shortly appoint a third panel of very junior barristers. The Attorney-General's individual nomination is required before a barrister who is not one of the approved panels can be instructed to appear for the Government in litigation.
Departments may use firms of solicitors in addition to the Treasury Solicitor and their departmental legal advisers, for example where the relevant expertise lies in the private sector. The relationship is subject to the usual confidentiality which operates between lawyer and client.