Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how much her Department spent on the (a) Calvert-Smith review and (b) Altman review of the Serious Fraud Office.

The costs of Sir David Calvert-Smith’s independent review into the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) handling of the Unaoil case (R. v Akle & Anor), which was commissioned by the Attorney General, are still being finalised. The costs to date to the Attorney General’s Office are £84,571.90. There are some costs outstanding, but it is anticipated these will not increase the overall cost of the review significantly. The total costs will be recovered from the SFO.

The cost of Brian Altman QC’s independent review of the collapse of R v. Woods & Marshall, which was commissioned by the Director of the SFO, was £359,442.37. This was paid for by the SFO.

Both reviews presented valuable recommendations and the implementation of these remain a priority for the Law Officers and the Director of the SFO.