Legal bills

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Dear Belfast City Council,

I have a few questions on planning legal bills. Can you please tell me:

1. what was the council’s budget for seeking external legal advice / opinions / representation per year since the implementation of Local Government Reform on 1 April 2015?
2. What was the actual amount spent on legal advice / opinions / representation in each of those years?
3. How much of that expenditure per year was related to planning and environmental issues?

Yours faithfully,

Shauna Corr

Nora Largey, Belfast City Council

Dear Ms Corr,

Thank you for your email of 28th January 2019 requesting access to information about planning legal bills under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Specifically, you requested information on:

1. the council’s budget for seeking external legal advice / opinions / representation per year since the implementation of Local Government Reform on 1 April 2015;
2. the actual amount spent on legal advice / opinions / representation in each of those years; and
3. how much of that expenditure per year was related to planning and environmental issues.

I apologise for the slight delay in responding to your request. I can confirm that the Council holds the information you have requested and has decided that it can be disclosed into the public domain. Accordingly, this information is provided below for each financial year since 1st April 2015.

2015/2016
1. The Council’s budget for seeking external legal advice/opinions and representation was £125k.
2. The actual amount spent on legal advice/opinions and representations was nil.
3. N/A

2016/2017
1. The Council’s budget for seeking external legal advice/opinions and representation was nil (budget for 2015/2016 was carried forward).
2. The actual amount spent on legal advice/opinions and representations was £5,520.00.
3. All of that expenditure related to planning and environmental issues.

2017/2018
1. The Council’s budget for seeking external legal advice/opinions and representation was nil (budget for 2015/2016 was carried forward).
2. The actual amount spent on legal advice/opinions and representations was £55,124.40.
3. Of that expenditure, £38,834.40 related to planning and environmental issues.

2018/2019
1. The Council’s budget for seeking external legal advice/opinions and representation was £50k
2. To date the actual amount spent on legal advice/opinions and representations was £60,671.00.
3. Of that expenditure, £53,795.00 related to planning and environmental issues.

Please note that if this information is to be published it should be attributed to being Belfast City Council’s response to a freedom of information request. For any media queries, you should contact Corporate Communications, Belfast City Council.

If you are dissatisfied with how the Council handled your request for information, you have the right to request that the Council formally review this decision. If you wish to do so, please write to the Records Manager, Legal and Civic Services, Belfast City Council, City Hall, Belfast, BT1 5GS.

Should you remain dissatisfied following the Council's internal review, you can seek an independent review from the Information Commissioner. Requests for an independent review should be made in writing to: The Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. However, I would advise you that the Information Commissioner has indicated that a review will not be undertaken unless the Council has first had an opportunity to re-consider its decision.

Yours sincerely,

Nora Largey
Divisional Solicitor

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