Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many people, other than special advisers, have been appointed to civil service posts in her Department without open competition since 4 July 2024; what their (a) job titles and (b) salary bands are; and on what basis each was appointed.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No appointments to civil service posts in the Attorney General’s Office, excluding special advisers, have been made without open competition since 4 July 2024.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what (a) direct ministerial and (b) other public appointments to her Department and associated bodies have (i) been (A) removed from their posts and (B) asked to resign and (ii) been made since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No direct ministerial appointments to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) or the Law Officers’ Departments (the Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Fraud Office, Government Legal Department, and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate) have been made or removed or asked to resign since 4 July 2024. While not direct ministerial appointments, the Law Officers and the Law Officers’ Departments routinely seek advice from outside experts on the law, including counsel, solicitors or academic specialists. Arrangements for using counsel, solicitors and academics are principally via panels of counsel, panels of law firms or their academic institutions.
As regards public appointments, following an open competition, two non-executive directors were appointed by the Attorney General to the board of the Serious Fraud Office on 1 October 2024. More information can be found here: Serious Fraud Office welcomes two new non-executive directors - Serious Fraud Office (sfo.gov.uk).
No other public appointments to the AGO and Law Officers’ Departments have been made or removed or asked to resign since 4 July 2024
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 - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
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 - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
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.