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| Hillsborough inquests: Families' legal fees were £63.6m | Hillsborough inquests: Families' legal fees were £63.6m |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Legal costs for the families at the inquests into the deaths of the 96 Hillsborough victims totalled £63.6m. | Legal costs for the families at the inquests into the deaths of the 96 Hillsborough victims totalled £63.6m. |
| They were paid by the Home Office, which also spent nearly £20m on lawyers for the former chief constable of South Yorkshire Police and eight ex-officers. | They were paid by the Home Office, which also spent nearly £20m on lawyers for the former chief constable of South Yorkshire Police and eight ex-officers. |
| The inquests concluded in April that fans were unlawfully killed in the 1989 disaster. | |
| The inquests, running between 31 March 2014 and 26 April 2016, were the longest in British legal history. | |
| The £83.6m total includes costs of solicitors, experts, counsel, and disbursements between 31 December 2012 and 30 June 2016. | The £83.6m total includes costs of solicitors, experts, counsel, and disbursements between 31 December 2012 and 30 June 2016. |
| Lawyers for the families received the same rates as police counsel, the BBC understands. | Lawyers for the families received the same rates as police counsel, the BBC understands. |
| The inquests into the deaths of 96 fans - after a crush during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest - followed a 27-year campaign by victims' families. | |
| In April, it was reported South Yorkshire Police's legal bill for the inquests was £25.1m, with £20m of this paid by the Home Office. | In April, it was reported South Yorkshire Police's legal bill for the inquests was £25.1m, with £20m of this paid by the Home Office. |
| Figures released by the police and crime commissioner showed the force had paid about £4.3m of the total legal bill. | Figures released by the police and crime commissioner showed the force had paid about £4.3m of the total legal bill. |
| Of the £63.6m cost for representing the victims' families, £34.3m went to the firm Birnberg Peirce while Broudie Jackson Canter received £19.8m. | Of the £63.6m cost for representing the victims' families, £34.3m went to the firm Birnberg Peirce while Broudie Jackson Canter received £19.8m. |
| The rest was spent on six other legal firms representing the families. | The rest was spent on six other legal firms representing the families. |
| Analysis: Judith Moritz, BBC North of England correspondent | |
| For nearly a quarter of a century the Hillsborough families fought for justice - but they were also forced to campaign for money, to fund the process of achieving it. | |
| Many felt it put them at a disadvantage, when pitted against police officers and organisations with corporate or state backing. | |
| Things changed in 2012 when the families felt they had learned the truth about the disaster after the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report. | |
| But it opened up a new journey to justice which threatened to be long and costly. | |
| The then Home Secretary Theresa May acknowledged their fears and promised a level playing field. | |
| She committed the government to covering the families' costs under a new fund - the Hillsborough Families Legal Representation Scheme. | |
| It meant they could be represented by top lawyers throughout the longest inquests in British legal history. | |
| Survivors of the crush were not given funds for legal representation at the inquests. | |
| Two criminal investigations are being conducted into the 1989 disaster and its aftermath - one into the fans' deaths, the other into police conduct - with future prosecutions possible. | |
| The Home Office has said that its financial support for the victims' families will continue. | |
| Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram, Labour's mayoral candidate for the Liverpool City Region, said: "The public purse could have been spared this cost and the Hillsborough families the heartache of a two-and-a-half decade delay in reaching the right verdict, if they had received sufficient legal funding for the first inquest in November 1990. | |
| "If they could have afforded the best lawyers 26 years ago, the injustice wouldn't have happened. | |
| "It shows yet again why, when bereaved families are up against public bodies at inquests, they need fair legal funding." |