Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many apprentices her Department recruited in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office recruited the following number of apprentices in the years requested.
Year | Law Officer Departments |
2022 | 7 |
2023 | 7 |
2024 | 5 |
2025 | 1 |
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether officials in their Department are permitted to use Government Car Service cars.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office follows central government guidance on domestic ministerial travel, as set out in the Civil Service Management Code (2016).
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, will fundamentally alter the relationship between those who govern and the people they serve.
The Bill, once passed into law, will introduce substantial changes, including a new professional and legal Duty of Candour for public officials, meaning they must act with honesty and integrity at all times, or be met with criminal sanctions for serious breaches.
This Bill will bring forth the biggest expansion in legal aid in a generation, by making provision for publicly funded legal representation for bereaved families at inquests in which the state is an interested party.
Asked by: Jon Pearce (Labour - High Peak)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Victims’ Right to Review scheme pilot on victims of rape and serious sexual offences.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I recently announced the extension of the Victims Right to Review scheme beyond the West Midlands to the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, and Wales. I am carefully reviewing the impact of the pilot scheme ahead of decisions on a potential further rollout.
Under the scheme victims of rape now have the right for their case to be considered by a second prosecutor, before a final decision is taken to drop the case.
This gives victims more of a voice in their cases, and a second chance at justice.
Asked by: Dave Robertson (Labour - Lichfield)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Crown Prosecution Service's communications with victims of crime.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I recognise that the way the CPS communicates with victims has not always met the high standard that victims have every right to expect.
I am determined to put this right.
The CPS Victim Transformation Programme is a step in the right direction, but it must go further to ensure it delivers a high-quality service for victims so that they receive timely, clear communication and straightforward explanations about what is happening in their case and why decisions have been made.
Asked by: Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what date the Attorney General first provided the Prime Minister with legal advice in response to the commencement of Operation Epic Fury by the United States of America; and whether the Attorney General provided additional legal advice on this topic to the Prime Minister on 1 March.
Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General
The Law Officers’ Convention applies to advice which may or may not have been given by the Law Officers, or requested of the Law Officers, and the Convention applies to your question.
The Law Officers’ Convention can be found at paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May:
“By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph [5.14] of the Ministerial Code [updated on 6 November 2024]. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, with reference to the Government Legal Service publication, “the Judge over your shoulder”, para 3.15, what supplementary advice or guidance have the Law Officers or GLS given on whether a reconsideration of a Ministerial decision requires a new Minister to take the fresh decision.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
With reference to the publication, JOYS: The Judge Over Your Shoulder, the Government Legal Department is not aware of any supplementary advice or guidance on whether a reconsideration of a Ministerial decision requires a new Minister to take the fresh decision.
In addition, it is a longstanding convention that whether the Law Officers have advised or have not advised, and the content of their advice, must not be disclosed outside government without their authority
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish the number of cases and the relevant offences for cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division in each year between 2015 and 2025.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not publish official statistics. Official statistics relating to crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office and Office for National Statistics. Official statistics relating to criminal courts including caseload, timeliness, convictions, and sentencing outcomes are maintained by the Ministry of Justice. However, since January 2020, the CPS has published quarterly bulletins of data tables and summaries of main trends as part of the CPS’s ongoing commitment to transparency on prosecution performance – available here: CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish the number of cases and the relevant offences for cases prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division in each year between 2015 and 2025.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not publish official statistics. Official statistics relating to crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office and Office for National Statistics. Official statistics relating to criminal courts including caseload, timeliness, convictions, and sentencing outcomes are maintained by the Ministry of Justice. However, since January 2020, the CPS has published quarterly bulletins of data tables and summaries of main trends as part of the CPS’s ongoing commitment to transparency on prosecution performance – available here: CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what evidence her Department submitted to the Office for National Statistics' review of the ethnicity harmonised standard, including in relation to the recording of Sikhs and Jewish people as ethnic groups.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
An initial response to the public consultation is due to be published in April, followed by a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026. This report will include all formal responses to the consultation, and the names of the organisations that responded.