Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish the number of cases awaiting charging decisions by the Crown Prosecution Service, broken down by (a) whether they are (i) summary only, (ii) either way and (iii) indictable only offences and (b) by Crown Prosecution Service region.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Management information is held showing the number of cases with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which are awaiting a pre-charge decision.
The table below shows the overall number of cases which were awaiting a charging decision or administrative triage (completed on files sent by the police to the CPS for a charging decision) as of 25 March 2024. This data is provided in line with the last quarterly data release in March 2024.
25/03/2024 | |
Cymru Wales | 1,354 |
East Midlands | 1,107 |
East Of England | 868 |
London North | 803 |
London South | 833 |
Merseyside and Cheshire | 733 |
North East | 852 |
North West | 1,088 |
South East | 912 |
South West | 1,167 |
Thames & Chiltern | 759 |
Wessex | 631 |
West Midlands | 1,571 |
Yorkshire & Humberside | 1,019 |
Total | 13,697 |
Data Source: CPS Pre-Charge Decision Workload Report | |
These figures do not include cases that have been referred to the CPS but that are currently with the police to action, having been sent back to them with a request for further information.
This count is of the number of cases, not suspects. A single case may cover one suspect or several.
No data is available in the report showing whether the alleged offences are summary, either-way or indictable only. To obtain this information would require a manual review at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for knife crime.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This Government is committed to halving knife crime in the next decade as set out in our Safer Streets Mission.
From Tuesday 24 September, it will be illegal to own zombie-style knives and machetes as they will be added to the list of dangerous prohibited items already banned, including zombie knives, butterfly knives, Samurai swords, and push daggers. The Government will also legislate to ban ninja swords and strengthen rules to prevent online sales of knives.
The Crown Prosecution Service and National Police Chiefs’ Council also work closely to prevent and tackle knife crime. Guidance setting out their joint approach to knife crime offending can be found here: Offensive Weapons, Knife Crime Practical Guidance | The Crown Prosecution Service (cps.gov.uk).
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether he has made an assessment of the compatibility of the introduction of VAT on independent school fees with the Government's obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code states: ‘the fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority’. This is known as the Law Officers’ Convention. Authority to make such disclosures is rarely given.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what the cost to her Department was of ministerial severance payments in each year from 19 December 2019 to 30 May 2024; which Ministers received a severance payment in that period; and how much each Minister received.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Details of ministerial severance payments are published in the HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Annual Report and Accounts. These can be found here: Transparency andfreedom of information releases - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
I confirm that over the period 19 December 2019 to 30 May 2024, the following payments were made:
The Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Cox KC MP – £23,612 (February 2020)
The Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC – £14,490 (August 2022)
Edward Timpson CBE KC – £14,490 (October 2022)
The Rt Hon Sir Michael Ellis KC – £23,612 (November 2022)
Information on any payments from 31 May 2024 will be released in due course.
All severance payments were made under the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, which provides for severance payments to ministers who cease to hold office and are not re-appointed to government within three weeks. This reflects the lack of any notice period when ministers leave government.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what the Government's policy is on the publication of its legal advice.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Law Officers’ Convention, reflected in paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code, is a long-standing convention observed by successive governments. It exists to preserve the ability of the Government and ministers to seek the advice of the Law Officers and not to be disadvantaged by disclosing when they have done so, and what advice they received.
As you may know, on some occasions the Government has published summaries of its legal position on specific matters, for example, on military activity in the Red Sea (see here: Summary of the UK Government Legal Position: The legality of UK military action to target Houthi facilities in Yemen on 12 January 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what the Government's policy is on the role of the law officers on (a) freedom of information requests, (b) appeals and (c) tribunals on decisions undertaken by the previous Government.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Law Officers’ role in respect of assessing exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI Act) for papers of a previous administration is set out at paragraph 11.24 of the Cabinet Manual:
“When a decision is required on the application of sections 36 or 53 of the FOI Act to papers of a previous administration, the Attorney General will act, as appropriate, as the accountable person for all government departments under section 53 and a Law Officer will act as the qualified person under section 36.”
Once an assessment is made it is returned to the relevant department who then apply the public interest test (where applicable). Any appeals or tribunal proceedings would be for the relevant department.
Asked by: Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory direct ministerial appointments excluding special advisers she has made; and (i) who the appointee was and (ii) what the (A) remuneration, (B) title and (C) terms of reference was for each appointment.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
As of this date, I can confirm that, excluding special advisers, the Attorney General and I have not made any direct statutory or non-statutory ministerial appointments.
Of course, the Law Officers and wider government legal teams for which they are responsible do make use of outside experts on the law, whether counsel, law firms or academic specialists. Arrangements for using counsel or academics are principally through the Attorney General’s panels and an off-panel nomination process or via their academic institution, whereas law firms are principally instructed through a panel firm procurement process.
Asked by: Lord Sandhurst (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that there are sufficient counsel available to prosecute rape offences.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
Good quality prosecutorial advocacy underpins our ability to deliver timely justice. The criminal justice system needs a resilient supply of advocates – both prosecution and defence – and the Crown Prosecution Service (“CPS”) recognises that this is currently proving challenging, particularly in rape cases. Addressing this shortfall is a priority for the CPS.
The CPS Advocate Panel is a time-limited quality-assured list of external junior advocates – self-employed barristers and solicitor agents – who undertake criminal prosecution advocacy for the CPS.
There are currently around 770 advocates on the CPS’ specialist Advocate Panel for Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (the “RASSO Panel”). Whilst there has been a decline in numbers over the past five years, there has been a notable increase of just under 100 RASSO Panel advocates during the last 12 months.
Notwithstanding this increase, with RASSO caseloads at record levels, further action is needed to drive up numbers to provide sufficient counsel. The CPS has taken steps to do so, which have included revising the entry requirements for the RASSO Panel, moving away from a written application for experienced advocates but still requiring them to have completed CPS-accredited RASSO training (or commit to do so within 3 months). A further change to support the progression of advocates into RASSO work and improving the pipeline will be announced later this month.
The CPS is also working with the Bar to improve the provision of RASSO training, to support wellbeing, and to promote the fact that – notwithstanding the challenges – RASSO work can be hugely fulfilling and support career progression.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps her Department is taking to co-ordinate with other Departments on tackling fraud through the Serious Fraud Office.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I work closely with other government departments, including the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, to support the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) mission to tackle fraud. My department will continue to support this mission through our superintendence of the SFO. I visited the SFO earlier this month to learn about their important work to deliver justice for victims of economic crime and protect the UK’s reputation as a safe place to do business.
The SFO works effectively with other law enforcement agencies through the National Economic Crime Centre to collectively co-ordinate the UK’s response to fraud. Earlier this year this co-ordination led to the National Crime Agency arresting four individuals following an SFO search of three sites in relation to an investigation into an alleged £140m investment fraud.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps their Department is taking to support the Disability Confident scheme; how many officials in their Department work directly on supporting that scheme; what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of that work in supporting the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of disabled people in their Department; and what further steps they are taking to support their Department’s recruitment and retention of disabled people.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) receives its human resources shared service from the Government Legal Department (GLD). The GLD are signed up as Disability Confident and have progressed through the levels, achieving Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) status.
Please note that, excluding the GLD, I am responding on behalf of the AGO only, and not the departments superintended by myself and the Attorney General (the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, and Serious Fraud Office).