Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on legal fees in relation to British nuclear test litigation to date.

The net amount spent on legal costs in relation to the Nuclear Test Veterans Group Litigation known as AB and Ors v Ministry of Defence is £786,939.48. The legal action reached the Supreme Court in November 2011 on the issue of limitation. The Supreme Court found in favour of the MOD in March 2012 when the legal costs in the Group Litigation were £4,786,939.48.

In line with the Court's decision to award MOD 90% of its costs of the limitation issue in the High Court and 100% of its costs in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, MOD recovered £4,000,000 in legal costs from the Claimants' After The Event Insurers giving the net costs figure of £786,939.48.