To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of the report The Public Defence Solicitors’ Office in Edinburgh: An Independent Evaluation , giving a breakdown of the costs for (a) research, including researchers’ fees, (b) printing and production and (c) time expended by (i) the Central Research Unit and (ii) the Scottish Legal Aid Board.

The total contract for the evaluation of the public defender system was £362,115 across the 30 months of the project. Researcher’s fees are not separately identified in this total since the contract costs were primarily for the engagement of the research team to undertake the evaluation. The printing and production costs were £8,956 for both the report and research findings. It is not possible to calculate the costs of time expended by the Central Research Unit and the Scottish Legal Aid Board since input varied across the duration of the project and detailed records of time input were not kept.