Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department are (a) on temporary contracts and are (b) consultants.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Information on the number of staff employed by the Law Officers’ Departments on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address:
Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web addresses.
Government Legal Department Annual Report and Accounts 2024–25 - GOV.UK
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many referrals to the Crown Prosecution Service for immigration offences in the last three years were not prosecuted on evidential grounds.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The CPS does not hold the data requested. To establish whether suspects on cases where immigration offences were considered by reviewing lawyers at pre-charge stage, where then a subsequent no prosecution decision on evidential grounds was made in the last three years, would require a manual review of case files and this would be at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many full-time equivalent staff in her Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service provides guidance to prosecutors on addressing expert or academic evidence that uses alternative terminology for female genital mutilation in criminal proceedings.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
FGM is clearly defined in the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 and CPS prosecutors apply that statutory framework alongside the Code for Crown Prosecutors. CPS’s prosecution guidance for FGM recognises that expert medical evidence may assist a jury on technical matters; however, alternative terminology used in academic or professional contexts does not alter the offence definitions or the legal tests. Prosecutors assess any expert evidence for relevance, admissibility and weight, and will ensure the statutory terminology is used in court.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether she has had discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service on the potential impact of articles in medical journals on the willingness of (a) victims of and (b) witnesses to female genital mutilation to come forward.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Victim and witness confidence is vital to tackling FGM. While the CPS does not comment on individual publications, prosecutors work closely with police and partners under established FGM joint protocols to provide early advice, safeguarding and sensitive handling of evidence. We recognise that victims rarely use the term “mutilation” themselves; language is often drawn out through expert evidence.
The CPS understands that in some communities FGM is practised with mistaken belief that is will benefit the girl in some way, but this does not detract from the fact that it causes long term harm and trauma to victims and remains a serious criminal offence. The CPS continues to maintain dedicated prosecution guidance and training to ensure cases are built robustly where the legal test is met.
Whilst securing prosecutions is important, protective measures are central to safeguarding victims. Protective measures, such as Forced Marriage Protection Orders, FGM Protection Orders are designed for of these crimes and safeguard them from on-going risk.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether he has sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service on the potential impact of articles in medical journals on (a) evidential thresholds and (b) prosecutorial decision-making in cases involving female genital mutilation.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The CPS role is to make sure the right person is prosecuted for the right offence. Prosecutors apply the Code for Crown Prosecutors when making charging decisions in all cases, including FGM. The evidential threshold, whether the evidence provides a realistic prospect of conviction, requires prosecutors to consider the reliability and credibility of the evidence. Where relevant to a particular case, prosecutors may consider admissible expert medical evidence. However, academic commentary does not change the legal tests or the CPS decision making framework.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many applications for permission to seek a new inquest under section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988 have been granted in each of the past five years.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Our records indicate that the following number of fiats were granted in each of the last five years:
2021 – 4
2022 – 4
2023 – 11
2024 – 6
2025 – 14 to date.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what proportion of (a) named day questions and (b) ordinary written questions were responded to by her Department within the required timescale in (i) May 2025, (ii) June 2025, (iii) July 2025, (iv) August 2025, (v) September 2025, (vi) October 2025 and (vii) November 2025.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of written parliamentary questions (PQs).
The House of Commons Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and publishes a report of the government’s consolidated PQ data following the end of each session.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice the Attorney General provided about the proportionality and applicability to Northern Ireland under World Trade Organization rules of the generational smoking ban in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, and the likelihood of a legal challenge at the World Trade Organization.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
The Law Officers sit on the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee. As part of the process of approving a government Bill for introduction, as set out in the published Guide to Making Legislation, a legal issues memorandum is prepared for this Committee. This will set out all relevant legal issues.
Whether the Law Officers have been asked to provide advice outside of the PBL process is covered by the Law Officers’ Convention. This Convention provides that whether or not the Law Officers have been asked to provide advice, and the contents of any such advice, is not disclosed outside Government.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether anyone in the Attorney General's Office advised against proceeding in the China spy case for diplomatic reasons, and if so, what that advice was.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
No one in the Attorney General’s Office advised against proceeding in these cases for diplomatic (or any other) reasons.
As I set out in my evidence to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy on 29 October 2025, in this case, consent to prosecute was given on 3 April 2024 by the then Solicitor General. Following that date, no Law Officer intervened in the case at any stage.
The decision to offer no evidence in this case was made by the CPS without input or advice from the Law Officers.
Decisions to not proceed because of evidential reasons are made independently by the CPS. The requirement on the CPS is to inform the Attorney General of the decision after it has been taken, not to consult prior to that decision.