Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on (a) barristers and (b) other lawyers as part of the (i) litigation related to the First-tier Tribunal and (ii) freedom of information requests made by Dr Andrew Lownie on the Mountbatten diaries and letters; and if he will make an estimate of the cost of civil service time spent in handling all aspects of this matter.  [193280]

[Due for Answer on 17 July]

ANSWER

The Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Alex Burghart): To provide this information would exceed the threshold and incur a disproportionate cost to the Cabinet Office. Civil servants do not record the proportion of time that they spend on individual matters, and cover a range of responsibilities, including Freedom of Information and litigation.