Child sex inquiry cost £20m last year

 The child sexual abuse inquiry cost more than £20million in the last year, new figures show.

Spending for the wide-reaching investigation, which began its public evidence hearings earlier this year, was below its £30.9million budget but included more than £9million on staff, £5million on legal costs and

£1.4 million on safeguarding for victims and survivors. The data, from the last financial year, also showed the former head of the inquiry, Dame Lowell Goddard, racked up expenses in excess of £41,000 in addition to her six-figure salary.

Professor Alexis Jay took the helm last August on a salary of £118,360. She has so far claimed £9,506 in expenses on a budget of around £30,000.