§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much his Department has spent on legal fees relating to the Bus Employees Superannuation Trust(a) in total and (b) in connection with the High Court hearing, of 1 March.[79539]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonThe previous Government decided to fund litigation by the National Bus Company pension trustees following a decision by the Pensions Ombudsman. Expenditure to date by my Department on legal and other costs related to all aspects of the litigation concerning the two NBC pension schemes (the Bus Employees Superannuation Trust and the National Bus Pension Fund) has been £980,000. Of this, costs incurred by the trustees amount to £782,000 and the Department's own costs amount to £198,000. £67,000 of the total was incurred by the previous Administration. The total includes costs of £10,000 related to the High Court hearing of 1 March, which concerned the extent to which certain provisions of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 and the Pensions Act 1995 applied to the schemes.