Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much their Department and its associated agencies spent on legal disputes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

We have taken “legal dispute” to mean a case where DWP has instructed the litigation team at the Government Legal Department (GLD) to act on its behalf and “associated agencies” to include the arms’ length bodies (ALBs) and agencies included in this list: Departments, agencies and public bodies - GOV.UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

On this basis, the figures that we have been supplied by GLD litigation are calculated from 1st January each year are and are up to 30th June 2022:

2020 £6,271,760

2021 £6,566,573

2022 £3,262,113

These figures are inclusive of;

• VAT
• Bills to ALBs from GLD litigation and to DWP agencies, and
• Costs awards either against or in favour of DWP, its ALBs or agencies

The figures are exclusive of;

• Expenditure on advisory teams, which may include advice on disputes within the scope of their work, and
• Employment advisory work.