§ Mr. ForthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost of conducting the Macpherson inquiry; and what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing its recommendations. [108218]
§ Mr. StrawThe final costs of the inquiry have yet to be determined as there are outstanding bills for settlement in terms of legal fees. However, the costs incurred to date are as follows:
Pay and allowances £ Inquiry Team, Advisers and civil servants 667,000 Accommodation and Associated Costs 710,000 Legal Representation and Treasury Solicitors Costs 2,084,000 Miscellaneous Running Costs 777,000 This provides a total cost to date of £4.238 million. I explained in the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Mr. Efford) on 23 July 1999, Official Report, column 729W, the Metropolitan police service are, in accordance with section 49(5) of the Police Act 1996, meeting the full costs of setting up and establishing the inquiry, together with all costs which directly accrued from Part 1 of the inquiry relating to the police investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. These costs amount to £3.1 million to date of the total costs. The costs of Part 2 of the inquiry, on the future handling of racially motivated crime, will be met by the Home Office as the findings were of more general application.
Arrangements had been made to reimburse the costs arising from the need of 18 families and individuals to be moved by Greenwich Council or to sell their houses as a result of the inquiry's error in publishing Appendix 11 of the inquiry's report in full. The final amount is not yet known but is likely to be about £350,000, which is significantly less than the estimate given in that earlier reply.
I made it clear in the Action Plan I published in March 1999 in response to the inquiry's report that the changes required by the inquiry will work only if they are systemic and implemented within the mainstream of the police service at every level. We have recognised the need for proper investment in the police service to help achieve 46W that, which is why we are investing an extra £1.24 billion in policing over three years following the comprehensive spending review. Several of the changes called for by the report, including some of the most far-reaching, require further study or piloting before they can be implemented on a national basis. It is not, therefore, possible at present to give an overall figure for the costs of implementing the report's recommendations.