Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost to the public purse was for legal (a) support and (b) representation for Ministers in his Department in relation to their official conduct in the last three financial 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, UIN 17709 and Official Report, House of Lords, Vol. 836, Cols. 1901-1904, 12 March 2024.