Total Expenditure Incurred in Litigation in McDermott vs NDA
Dear Nuclear Decommissioning Authority,
1. The total mount of taxpayers' money you have spent with Pinsent Masons from the commencement of my whistleblowing claim up to 17 May 2023.
2. The total mount of taxpayers' money you have spent on Counsel's fees from the commencement of my whistleblowing claim up to 17 May 2023.
3. Please advise if any other invoices are outstanding when you provide your response.
4. Confirmation that the counsel, Rachel Levene, charged the NDA up to £3,500 a day plus VAT for her services.
5. Please also advise if you incurred any other costs in relation to my claim, e.g. communication /PR/ any other external services.
6. Please confirm the names of the individuals who approved the expenditure of these costs and their seniority. If you are unwilling to provide the names please detail the roles/seniority of those who approved this expenditure. As a public body in receipt of public body, I believe that the public has the right to know this information.
Last time I asked you to detail the costs it was not clear to me if the information overlapped with previous data so it was confusing. For the avoidance of doubt, please provide the total figure of the money that the NDA has incurred on this litigation and thus remove any room for confusion or inaccuracies.
Regards
Alison McDermott
OFFICIAL
Case Ref: 20230810
Your request for information regarding "...Total Expenditure Incurred in Litigation in McDermott vs NDA ..." was received on 17 May and is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries you may have via [email address]
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Regards
Judith Griffin
Information Access Manager
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
We work flexibly - so whilst it suits me to email now, I do not expect any response or action outside of your own working pattern. My working pattern is Tue - Thur, 8:30 - 16:30
T: 01925 80 2077
E: [email address]
W: http://www.nda.gov.uk/
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OFFICIAL
OFFICIAL
Dear Ms McDermott
Responses to your queries are set out below. Please note all figures are excluding VAT -
1. The total amount of taxpayers' money you have spent with Pinsent Masons from the commencement of my whistleblowing claim up to 17 May 2023.
Pinsent Masons total fees, from FY 19 - FY 23: £208,189
2. The total amount of taxpayers' money you have spent on Counsel's fees from the commencement of my whistleblowing claim up to 17 May 2023.
Counsel total fees: from FY 2019 - FY2023: £69,271.90.
3. Please advise if any other invoices are outstanding when you provide your response.
None.
4. Confirmation that the counsel, Rachel Levene, charged the NDA up to £3,500 a day plus VAT for her services.
No.
See response to Q2 for total fees.
5. Please also advise if you incurred any other costs in relation to my claim, e.g. communication /PR/ any other external services.
None
6. Please confirm the names of the individuals who approved the expenditure of these costs and their seniority. If you are unwilling to provide the names please detail the roles/seniority of those who approved this expenditure. As a public body in receipt of public body, I believe that the public has the right to know this information.
Approval of the expenditure was in line with standard NDA internal procedures. We don't believe it appropriate to divulge the details of individual public servants who were performing duties in line with standard procedures/role requirements.
We are withholding this information requested and have applied s.40(2) Personal information exemption of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoIA), as the information relates to identifiable individuals to whom we have obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018. We believe that disclosure would risk us being in breach of these obligations and, as a result, the exemption on disclosure provided by Section 40(2) of the FoIA is engaged. The NDA considers that the public interest in this instance is best served by engaging the exemption and withholding the requested information.
We trust that the above has provided you with the necessary information to understand the authority's approach.
However, if you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled, you can request the NDA carry out an internal review, in the first instance contact [email address]
If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Regards
Judith Griffin
Information Access Manager
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
We work flexibly - so whilst it suits me to email now, I do not expect any response or action outside of your own working pattern.
T: 01925 80 2077
E: [email address]
W: http://www.nda.gov.uk/
This message and any attachment is intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to us, and immediately and permanently delete it. Do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
If you have a general enquiry or wish to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations, please phone 01925 802077 or email [email address].
OFFICIAL
Dear Enquiries,
Please confirm that these figures are exclusive of VAT?
Regards
Alison
Yours sincerely,
alison mcdermott
OFFICIAL
Dear Ms McDermott
Yes, we did state in our response - see first line - that the figures provided exclude VAT.
Regards
Judith Griffin
Information Access Manager
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
We work flexibly - so whilst it suits me to email now, I do not expect any response or action outside of your own working pattern. My working pattern is Tue - Thur, 8:30 - 16:30
T: 01925 80 2077
E: [email address]
W: http://www.nda.gov.uk/
This message and any attachment is intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to us, and immediately and permanently delete it. Do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment.
Please consider the environment before printing this email
If you have a general enquiry or wish to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations, please phone 01925 802077 or email [email address].
OFFICIAL
Dear Nuclear Decommissioning Authority,
Please clarify the daily rate you paid to Rachael Levene, Counsel for the NDA. Sellafield has confirmed the amount they paid Deshpal Panesar and I see no reason why you should not do likewise. In your previous response you evaded answering this specific point.
Yours faithfully,
alison mcdermott
OFFICIAL
We have provided details of the overall costs charged to NDA. Day rates were variable - 1250 and 2000.
Regards
Judith Griffin
Information Access Manager
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
We work flexibly - so whilst it suits me to email now, I do not expect any response or action outside of your own working pattern.
T: 01925 80 2077
E: [email address]
W: http://www.nda.gov.uk/
This message and any attachment is intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to us, and immediately and permanently delete it. Do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
If you have a general enquiry or wish to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations, please phone 01925 802077 or email [email address].
OFFICIAL
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