Freedom Of Information and Legal Costs
The revelation (Western Mail ) that the Assembly government has spent 6.7 million pounds on external legal advice since the advent of the Assembly, in addition to the in-house 84-strong legal team’s costs is absolutely astounding and mind boggling.
When I was given the figure I did a hasty calculation on a scrap of paper that was to hand and calculated that this roughly equated to 110 pounds per hour for every single hour of the Assembly’s existence not counting, of course, the 84-strong in house legal team’s costs possibly a value for money audit of this area is needed! Now I am the first to admit that some of those costs can certainly be justified but ALL of them I doubt it.
The advice on the copyright issue on Alun Pugh’s now notorious Christmas cards advice which an average undergraduate law student could certainly have given. Is a case in point. Leaving aside the crass insensitivity to public opinion of the whole sorry episode I cannot begin to fathom why any one of the many highly qualified lawyers in the in house team was unable to give a clear statement of the legal position on this point of law. I expect incidentally Alun to have gone for a safer choice of card this year than last!
Similarly why was advice needed on how to avoid publishing information on the free school breakfast scheme Why not just publish the information? In answer to my own question it must be deeply damaging to the government.
Legal advices on the early bungled Assembly building contract were costs that were also avoidable. Sadly there never seems to be any shortage of money for these sorts of unnecessary expenditure exemplified by these massive legal costs and yet money is in short supply for so many worthwhile
projects throughout our country.
