Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September to Question 169517, how much his Department has spent on contracted security personnel to assist with the processing of tribunal cases in Scotland in the last five years.

Expenditure in the last five years was nil.

Security personnel are not employed to assist with the administrative processing of tribunal cases; this is undertaken by dedicated administrative staff.

Contracted security personnel are, however, deployed to ensure the security and safety of all persons who work in and attend tribunal premises, and undertake specific duties including searching the public on entry and responding to security incidents. They are not involved in any administrative process outside of those duties.