Department for Transport written question – answered am ar 14 Chwefror 2024.
Kenny MacAskill
Alba, East Lothian
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 12084 on Fishing Vessels: Safety, what the total legal costs incurred by his Department were for (a) investigations of suspected non-use of personal floatation devices and (b) any other purpose by legal firm DWF in each of the last five years.
Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) incurred the following legal expenditure with DWF over the last 5 years:
a) Legal costs in issuing notices related to breach of the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Personal Protective Equipment) Regulations 1999 - £31,104 in 2023. Nil return for information related to prior years. b) Total legal spend with DWF (inclusive of spend detailed in part a) over the last 5 years is detailed below:
Year | Payment |
2018 | £9,701 |
2019 | £10,849 |
2020 | £15,079 |
2021 | £13,501 |
2022 | £472,869 |
2023 | £1,382,895 |
The change in total spend profile with this legal services provider reflects the fact that the MCA has reduced its suppliers to consolidate and reduce overall costs by utilising the framework for procurement of legal services.
Yes2 people think so
No1 person thinks not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.