Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what litigation costs his Department incurred in Wilson and others v Bayer Pharma and others, [2023] EWHC 1282 (QB); and how many representatives of his Department attended the Royal Courts of Justice for that hearing.

A total of £469,613.30 in legal costs, as of the end of May 2025, excluding VAT, has been incurred by the Department of Health and Social Care via the Government Legal Department representing them on the Wilson and others v Bayer Pharma and others case. Another matter, Forshaw, was litigated at the same time where the costs were included within the billing for Wilson, but it is not possible to split the costs on these cases because that data is not available in that format.

Four legal representatives on behalf of the Department and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) attended the hearing in May 2023 at the Royal Courts of Justice, namely a senior Government Legal Department lawyer accompanied by a legal executive, and two Counsel, a King's Counsel and a barrister. There were no attendees from the Department of Health and Social Care or the MHRA.