To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many barristers have been instructed by (a) his Department and (b) HS2 Ltd to work on the Phase 1 Hybrid Bill Committee; and what the (a) remuneration arrangements, (b) level of qualification and (c) total costs are of such barristers to date.
Answered on
12 March 2015
The Department for Transport has instructed a team of seven barristers to support the HS2 Phase One Hybrid Bill Select Committee. HS2 Ltd has not separately instructed barristers on the Bill. The team of barristers is made up of two Queen’s Counsel (called in 1987 and 1996 respectively), with remaining junior counsel members of the team called in 1997, 2000, 2005, 2007 and 2007 respectively.
The team of barristers are remunerated on the basis of government hourly rates agreed with the Attorney General. To support the Select Committee process, we have secured the availability of most of the barristers in the team by means of commitment fees. The current spend to date on barristers to support the Phase One Hybrid Bill Committee is £741,820. This figure covers the period from April 2014, when the petitioning period began, to the end of January 2015 and is exclusive of VAT.