Mr. Andy Harkness:

The point in the Comptroller and Auditor General's conclusion was that the Department relied on the CSSO to provide legal advice in relation to the negotiations of the lease.

The comptroller went on to say that the Chief State Solicitor's office had followed an established conveyancing procedure in relying on the vendors or lessors to provide an architect's opinion of compliance with planning requirements. An opinion was provided in the required format by a registered person, and the CSSO was entitled to rely on this in accordance with recommended Law Society practice. Nevertheless, the statutory period to act on a change of use had expired, and the basis on which a change of use would be recognised by the planning authorities was specifically averted to in the correspondence between the CSSO and the legal representatives of the property owners.