Ministers admit cost of Supreme Court may hit £32m

Setting up Britain's first supreme court could cost £32 million, ministers admitted for the first time today.

Constitutional Affairs Secretary Lord Falconer published a Bill aiming to set up the court, abolish the Lord Chancellorship and set up a commission to appoint judges.

The 12 law lords - Britain's most senior judges - will leave the House of Lords and become supreme court justices once a suitable new building is found.

Several sites are believed to be under consideration, including Somerset House, but ministers refuse to confirm details. However, Lord Falconer admitted today that setting up the court would cost "between £6 million and £32 million", with costs spread over three years.

On top will come annual running costs, estimated at £1.6 million to £6.5million, and "operational costs", including salaries, of around £4.3 million a year.

But around 80 per cent of these will be recovered from fee income from the national court system. The new court could be up and running next year, but Lord Falconer refused to put a timescale on plans.

Former Master of the Rolls Lord Donaldson today hit out at the Bill, saying that setting up the supreme court would effectively remove the law lords from the House of Lords.

He told Radio 4's Today programme: "This will deprive both the courts - they are much more in touch with real life if they listen to what's going on in the House of Lords - and the House of Lords, who will be deprived of technical expertise on which they have relied."

Ministers have pledged to protect judges by enshrining the independence of the judiciary in new legislation.

The Tories and many lawyers say the plans are an unnecessary expense that will threaten the independenceof the judiciary. Some have claimed the supreme court move will end up costing the taxpayer some £50million

Lord Falconer said today: "Let's have a transparent, separate process. That's the right way forward. It's worth spending money on that.

"In every developed democracy the judges and the courts should be entirely independent of the executive, but also of the body whose laws they are interpreting," he said.