HC Deb 14 January 2002 vol 378 cc1-3W
Mr. Dodds

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the amounts paid to(a) senior counsel, (b) junior counsel, (c) judges and (d) secretarial and administrative support in respect of the Bloody Sunday inquiry in Londonderry. [23566]

Mr. Donaldson

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will provide details of the cost of the Saville inquiry in respect of(a) fees paid to junior and senior counsel, (b) fees paid to solicitors and (c) fees, expenses and other payments made to the chairman; and what is the total cost of the inquiry to date. [19988]

Mr. Browne

The cost of the Bloody Sunday inquiry to the Northern Ireland Office, as at 4 December 2001, is £52 million. This figure does not include costs to other Departments such as the Ministry of Defence.

The costs to the Northern Ireland Office can be broken down as follows:

NIO expenditure on Bloody Sunday inquiry from 1997–98 to December 2001
£000
1. Tribunal members
Salaries1; allowances2; rental of London accommodation for non-UK members 907
2. Inquiry Secretariat
Salary costs 3,206
of which:
solicitors and paralegals: 1,400
administrative staff (including witness liaison and press office): 1,806
3. Inquiry Counsel
Fees and minor expenses 3,970

NIO expenditure on Bloody Sunday inquiry from 1997–98 to December 2001
£000
4. Counsel for the families
Fees and expenses 3,743
of the payments at items three and four:
to senior counsel: 4,093
to junior counsel: 3,620
5. Eversheds, solicitors3
Fees and expenses 10,814
6. Solicitors for the families
Fees and expenses 6,294
7. Other lawyers
(Between them acting for a range of other clients, including soldiers not represented by one of the MOD-funded legal teams) 522
8. Inquiry experts4
Fees and expenses 359
9. Information technology5 13,313
10. Accommodation
(Rental of office accommodation in London and office and hearings accommodation in Londonderry) 3,690
11. Travel and Subsistence
(For tribunal, and inquiry counsel and staff members) 1,344
12. Other
(Including office services; security; construction work; tracing of witnesses; costs assessment of lawyers' bills) 3,838
Total 52,000
1 Lord Saville continues to receive his salary as a Law Lord, currently £157,699 a year. He receives no salary from the NIO and so it is not included in the figure quoted at item one.
2 The non-UK members of the tribunal are paid daily allowances of £50 (net) while in Londonderry and £75 (net) while in London. In addition these members are paid an allowance of £500 (net) for every month in which they spend at least a fortnight in the UK. Lord Saville is paid the daily Londonderry allowance, but neither of the other allowances. As at 4 December 2001 he had been paid a total of £7,400 in respect of this allowance. In addition the reasonable expenses incurred by members on tribunal business, and for travel to and from their home countries for the non-UK members, are met by the inquiry: the sums are included at item 11 in the table.
3 Eversheds are the solicitors contracted by the inquiry to take witness statements. They have also provided professional support to inquiry counsel and solicitors.
4 The experts concerned are in the fields of pathology, ballistics and explosives, sound, and history. The expenditure shown also includes that on the Peer Review Panel which has overseen the work of the pathology, ballistics, and sound experts.
5 Expenditure includes that on real-time transcription of the hearings, and on the evidence display system.

Notes:

  1. 1. The table displays the expenditure position as at 4 December 2001. The late submission of some bills means that the figures shown for certain expenditure components, notably four, do not fully reflect the scale on which expenditure had been incurred by December 2001. In addition, a prospective Judicial Review could affect the position at four, and a prospective judgment of the Senior Costs Judge the position at six.
  2. 2. The expenditure figures include VAT where that is paid.
  3. 3. The Ministry of Defence meets nearly all the costs of the four legal teams which between them represent most of the soldiers.

Mr. Blunt

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the cost to date of the Saville inquiry; and what he expects the final cost to be. [24438]

Mr. Ingram

I have been asked to reply.

The cost to date to the Ministry of Defence of the Saville inquiry is £14,454,453. This figure does not include costs to other Government Departments. It is not possible to provide an estimate of final cost, which is dependent on a number of factors beyond our control such as number of days in court and the number of witnesses called.