Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action is being taken by prosecuting authorities against those who incite others to cover up cameras in the Ultra Low Emission Zone.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for prosecuting cases which have been referred to them following an investigation by the police. The CPS will consider a prosecution for any case involving incitement to cause criminal damage or criminal damage to Ultra Low Emission Zone cameras under the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what discussions she had with her (a) Israeli and (b) Palestinian counterparts on compliance with international humanitarian law during her visit to the Middle East in February 2024.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
I visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 14 and 16 February 2024. In Israel, I met with the Israeli Attorney General, lawyers for the Israeli Defence Force, and the President of the Supreme Court. In the West Bank, I met with the Palestinian Attorney
General and the Prime Minister.
I held frank discussions in which I emphasised the importance of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) being respected, civilians protected, and detainees being held in compliance with the Geneva Conventions.
The UK Government continues to call for IHL to be respected and for civilians to be protected.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much funding her Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) uses advertising to promote vacancies in the Department.
The table below sets out what, in the last three years, the AGO budgeted for all communication and marketing and what it spent on advertising.
| 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Budget for communication and marketing | £26,500.00 | £35,000.00 | £40,000.00 |
Spend on advertising | £714.00 | £714.00 | £714.00 |
Please note that I am responding on behalf of the AGO only, and not the departments superintended by the Attorney General and I (the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Government Legal Department, and Serious Fraud Office).
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what subscriptions to (a) newspapers, (b) magazines and (c) online journals her Department has paid for in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office’s (AGO) paid subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and online journals provide AGO officials with a valuable resource of public discourse on topics relevant to the Department.
The AGO’s paid subscriptions for the last three financial years are set out in the table below.
| 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Newspapers | Financial Times; Telegraph | Financial Times; Telegraph | Financial Times; Sunday Times; Telegraph |
Magazines | Critic Magazine; Counsel Magazine | Counsel Magazine | Counsel Magazine |
Online journals | N/A | Thomson Reuters; Joshua Rozenberg | Thomson Reuters; Joshua Rozenberg |
Please note that I am responding on behalf of the AGO only, and not the departments superintended by the Attorney General and I (the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Government Legal Department, and Serious Fraud Office).
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much funding her Department (a) allocated for (b) spent on magazine subscriptions in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office’s (AGO) paid subscriptions to magazines provide AGO officials with a valuable resource of public discourse on topics relevant to the Department.
The AGO’s allocated budget and spend on magazine subscriptions in each of the last three financial years is set out in the table below.
Please note that figures for the allocated budget include magazine and other subscriptions (e.g., newspapers and online journals), whereas spend is for magazine subscriptions only.
| 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Allocated budget | £8,000.00 | £8,000.00 | £8,000.00 |
Spend on magazine subscriptions | £152.50 | £145.00 | £145.00 |
Please note that I am responding on behalf of the AGO only, and not the departments superintended by the Attorney General and I (the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Government Legal Department, and Serious Fraud Office).
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much her Department (a) paid in apprenticeship levy fees and (b) spent from its apprenticeship levy funds between September 2021 and August 2023.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The apprenticeship levy for the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is managed by the Government Legal Department (GLD). The GLD also manages the apprenticeship levy for HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI). These apprenticeship levies are combined into one pot and it is not possible to isolate them by department. However, it is possible to isolate the levy fees spent by the AGO to support its apprentices.
Between 01 September 2021 and 31 August 2023, the apprenticeship levy fees paid for the AGO, GLD, and HMCPSI were £1,380,581. This includes the 10% government top up.
During the same period, the AGO spent £30,173 to support AGO apprentices.
Please note that, except for the references to the GLD and HMCPSI above, I am responding on behalf of the AGO only, and not the departments superintended by the Attorney General and I (the Crown Prosecution Service, HMCPSI, GLD, and Serious Fraud Office).
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of digital posts in her Department are vacant.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not have any Digital and Data (DDaT) posts.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the AGO’s shared IT service provider. The total number of vacant DDaT posts in the CPS is 32, 10.5% of DDaT posts in the CPS.
As part of the 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, all government departments made a commitment to reduce their digital and data vacancies to under 10% of total Government Digital and Data headcount by 2025. Overall good progress has been made, with total vacancies now at 15%.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much funding her Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on software updates to legacy computer systems in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for the provision and management of up-to-date IT infrastructure and applications for the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).
The CPS does not currently maintain any legacy IT infrastructure on behalf of the AGO.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of (a) children and (b) adults prosecuted for (i) homicide, (ii) attempted homicide and (iii) other offences had been assessed under the modern slavery national referral mechanism in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data on the number of defendants assessed under the modern slavery National Referral Mechanism (NRM). This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
The NRM is the UK framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery and ensuring they receive the appropriate support. Certain public authorities, including the police, have a statutory duty to refer potential victims to the NRM. Adults must agree to this. The CPS cannot make referrals; it is not a first responder.
Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 provides for a statutory defence for adult and child victims of modern slavery who are accused of committing criminal offences. The defence does not apply to the most serious crimes such as murder or manslaughter.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of charges that used the threshold test subsequently recorded an application of the full code test in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data from which it is possible to cross-reference Threshold Test charging decisions about a defendant with subsequent Full Code Test decisions. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
The Code for Crown Prosecutors is clear that the Threshold Test may only be applied after a rigorous examination of its five conditions. This ensures that it is only applied when necessary and that cases are not charged prematurely. Any decision to charge under the Threshold Test must be kept under review and the Full Code Test must be applied as soon as practicable.