Publication - FOI/EIR release

Cumulative costs of Scottish Government legal fees: FOI Review

Published: 24 September 2025
Directorate: Legal Services (Solicitor to the Scottish Government)
Topic: Money and tax, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202500472207 Review of 202500462518
Date received: 20 June 2025
Date responded: 4 July 2025

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Information requested

Original Request - 202500462518

You asked for 'In the last five financial years (inclusive of 2024/25), please provide the details of which matters counsel or legal advice was sought for any cumulative cost of legal fees of less than £50,000. This should include live and closed matters, with "matters" taken to be a general description of the action, not the legal specifics, in a way which would eliminate any prejudice in disclosing the sums spent on the action.'

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for –

1. In the last five financial years (inclusive of 2024/25), please provide the details of which matters counsel or legal advice was sought for any cumulative cost of legal fees of less than £50,000.

2. This should include live and closed matters, with "matters" taken to be a general description of the action, not the legal specifics, in a way which would eliminate any prejudice in disclosing the sums spent on the action.

You asked that the scope of the request be reduced to include only the last three years, including 2024/2025.

Your request for review states that you are unhappy with our initial response as it did not provide the costs requested at part 2) of your request.

My review is therefore limited to reconsideration of our response to part 2) of your request in terms of the costs requested.

I have been asked by the Director of Legal Services to carry out a review of our original response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), as set out above. I have now completed that review.

I have concluded that, in respect of the matter that I am reconsidering, i.e. the provision of costs, that a different decision should be substituted.

I have concluded the costs associated with each of the cases with which you were originally provided should be disclosed. These are attached in the undernoted table. I apologise that these were not included in the original response.

Table

Matter	Costs
A, Petitioner	£23,064
Abbotswell Developments Limited for Appeal under Town & Country Planning	£1841.80
Balfour Beatty Investments Ltd v Scottish Ministers - appeal under section 239 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997	£1928.20
[redacted] v Scottish Ministers	£3182.40
[redacted] for Judicial Review	£20,559
Chief Constable for Judicial Review of decision of Deputy First Minister - Sheku Bayoh Inquiry terms of reference	£30,331
[redacted]	£6,860
Duff & BBC Scotland v United Kingdom	£1,935
Edinburgh Marina Holdings Ltd - appeal under s.239 the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997	£7793.40
[redacted]	£1388.96
Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund v Scottish Ministers	£11856.00
Forthtay Limited Employee Trust v Scottish Ministers - Poet's Neuk	£15162
Fred Olsen Renewables Ltd	£13457
George Martindale and Son trading as Dhuloch Mains Farm	£3,072
Glasgow City Council v [redacted] & Others	£30,104
(A116/23)
J29 (Scotland) Limited v The Scottish Ministers	£3471
James Walker and Others for Judicial Review of the decision of the Scottish Ministers dated 23rd April 2024 under section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 and a direction under 57(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act	£15,910
Jonathan Weiss v Scottish Ministers	£6310.80
[redacted] (Scottish Ministers interested party)	£5603.00
Letter of Request – [redacted]	£166.72
Letter of Request – [redacted]	£690.20
Letter of Request – [redacted]	£846.80
Letter of Request - Taking of Evidence – [redacted]	£273.60
Letter of Request - Taking of Evidence – [redacted]	£540
Letter of Request - Taking of Evidence – [redacted]	£950.80
Letter of Request - Taking of Evidence – [redacted]	£158.40
Letter of Request - Taking of Evidence – [redacted]	£230.40
Letter of Request – [redacted]	£627.00
Vexatious Litigation/Restriction of Proceedings Order - [redacted]	£3312.00
XA31/24 Glenprop 4 LLP v Scottish Ministers - appeal under section 239 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997	£2628
[redacted] - Petition to the Nobile Officium re Fudge XL Bully	£924.00
Miller Homes Ltd v Scottish Ministers (XA41/23)	£37,868
[redacted], Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland v Scottish Ministers	£1008.00
[redacted] v Scottish Ministers - appeal under Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997	£4240.00
Raeshaw Farms Limited v Scottish Ministers	£7189.00
Restore Nature Limited v Scottish Ministers - petition for judicial review of screening decision under Forestry (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 in respect of "Todrig ...	£1296.00
[redacted] v Scottish Ministers	£10,800
Saqib Deen v Scottish Ministers	£9349.40
[redacted]	£10,416.00
[redacted]	£6588.00
[redacted]	£2736.00
[redacted] v the Scottish Ministers	£3600
[redacted] – letter of request from Germany	£468.00
Stobo Residents Action Group Limited v Scottish Forestry	£7649.00
The Scottish Association of Landlords, Property Mark Limited and Scottish Land and Estates Limited v Scottish Ministers	£450.00
[Redacted] v Scottish Ministers	£1489.00
Tobar Group Limited v The Scottish Ministers - XA73/24	£2523.40
X v Y, Lord President, and Lord Advocate	£9810.00

About FOI

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Contact

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Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

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