Will the Counsel General outline expenditure incurred to date by the Welsh Government’s legal services department into the appointment and support of Paul Bowen QC in relation to the inquiry that is yet to commence into the events surrounding the death of Carl Sargeant?
Under the terms of Mr Bowen QC’s appointment, and the Operational Protocol for the Investigation, the investigation is funded directly from the Welsh Government budget and this budget is administered by the Investigation Secretariat, established under the Operational Protocol. The Welsh Government central finance team is the budget holder for internal Welsh Government financial control purposes.
The total amount spent on the Investigation to date:
£ 414,044.89 (excluding VAT)
This comprises the costs of:
- The Investigator
- Counsel to the Investigation
- Solicitor to the Investigation
- Secretariat to the Investigation
- Administrative costs
- Reimbursement of legal costs to the Sargeant family
It does not include the costs of the Investigator, nor Mrs Sargeant, in relation to the judicial review of the Operational Protocol for the Investigation. Those costs are set out in the answer to WAQ78531(e).