Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 4 May 2016 to Question 35718, what his Department's combined legal costs were for the cases EE/2013/0145, EA2013/0148 and EA/2013/0149 heard at the First Tier Tribunal on 22 February 2016.

The total recorded external legal cost of these cases up to March 2016 is around £94,000.

This case raised important issues both for the Department, and for the Government as a whole, with regards to being able to create a safe space for free and frank provision of advice to officials and Ministers. The Government remains of a view that this was a case worth pursuing as the principles here are important ones for the proper conduct of public affairs.