§ Mr. DicksTo ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many days the Scott inquiry has sat; how many counsel, junior counsel and solicitors are involved in the inquiry; by what method payment is assessed; what fees have been paid to each lawyer and how they were calculated; and if they were paid in respect of days on which the inquiry did not sit.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 19 April 1994]: The inquiry has sat for a total of 93 days. The inquiry employs one counsel, who is paid on a daily basis, and who has been remunerated to date for 212 days' work at a daily rate of £800 plus VAT. The legal work undertaken is not confined to the oral sessions of the inquiry.
In addition, two civil servant members of the inquiry team are barristers and another one is a solicitor. All three are paid the usual civil service salary commensurate with their grade.
§ Mr. DicksTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the cost to date of the Scott inquiry; and if he will list the main subheads under which these moneys were spent with the amount for each subhead.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 19 April 1994]: The direct costs of the Scott inquiry to date, falling to my Department, have been £994,689. This total is broken down as follows:
Pay (for DTI Civil Servants) £317,426 Bought-in services, including legal, security and catering services £442,515 Legal costs incurred in advising DTI witnesses £165,976 Other costs, including office machinery, computers, stationery, travel and subsistence £68,772
§ Mr. DicksTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of what the total cost to public funds the Scott inquiry will be.
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§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 19 April 1994:] I am not at this stage able to give a reasonable estimate of the future costs of the inquiry.