Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the total cost to the public purse was of legal (a) support and (b) representation to Ministers in (i) her Department and (ii) the predecessor Department in relation to their official conduct in each of the last three years.

Such information is not centrally recorded or collated in the form requested. More generally, I would refer the hon. Member to the long-standing policies on legal expenditure, as set out recently by Cabinet Office Ministers on 12 March 2024, Official Report, PQ 17709 and 12 March 2024, Official Report, House of Lords, Cols. 1901-1904.