Lawyers made over a bln from miners' scheme

LONDON (Reuters) - The government's failure to keep a lid on legal fees saw payments to lawyers spiral to over 1 billion pounds during its handling of compensation schemes for miners, a group of MPs said on Tuesday.

A total of 4.1 billion pounds will have been paid in compensation to former miners for injuries related to coal dust and hand injuries.

But another 1.3 billion pounds went on lawyers' fees, while a further 1 billion pounds went on administration and medical costs.

Some miners had to wait more than 10 years for their money as the legal process ran its course, with some dying before receiving any compensation.

"Far too much money went into the solicitors' pockets," said Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee of public accounts.

The committee criticised the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, previously called the Department of Trade and Industry, for its "weakness" in negotiating with the lawyers.

"The department's negotiation of the fees with solicitors was weak, with the result that it paid fees significantly in excess of costs."

Some legal firms received fees from both the government and miners' compensation package, collecting as much as 124 million pounds in two cases.

MPs also accused the department of "seriously mismanaging" the schemes, underestimating how many claims there would be and their complexity.