Written Question
Monday 17th December 2018
Asked by:
Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question
to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether a suicide note is classified as a legal document.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Attorney General’s Office is not responsible for determining the legal status of any document. The legal status of a document would depend on a number of factors including the context it was being presented in.
Written Question
Thursday 19th January 2017
Asked by:
Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question
to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many lawyers are employed in the Government Legal Service; and how many such lawyers are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minority communities.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Government Legal Service (GLS) is not a department but a grouping of the legal profession within Government. Government lawyers take different forms; some are employed by the Government Legal Department (GLD), others employed by regulators and organisations at arm’s length from Government. The GLS is supported by a very small secretariat of fewer than five staff and does not systematically collect information as data is held by the lawyer’s own organisations. We are therefore unable to provide this information for the GLS. There is data for the GLD, which is the single largest ‘member’ of the GLS and the largest provider of legal services to government. As of 31 December 2016 the figures for the Government Legal Department are as follows:
Number of lawyers | 1,400 |
Number of female lawyers | 896 |
Number of lawyers from ethnic minority communities * | 187 |
Number of female lawyers from ethnic minority communities * | 132 |
*This figure is obtained from the information that is voluntarily self-recorded by employees
Written Question
Wednesday 18th January 2017
Asked by:
Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question
to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the cost to his Department was of the use of external lawyers by his Department (a) in general and (b) related to the work of the Treasury Solicitors in (i) 2016, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2014.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The cost relating to the use of external lawyers (including lawyers in the Government Legal Department, formerly the Treasury Solicitor’s Department) by the Attorney General’s Office for the last three financial years is in the table below:
£ | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
Cost of GLD lawyers | 425,859 | 330,442 | 322,023 |
Cost of GLD disbursements (Counsel) | 210,537 | 340,640 | 220,182 |
Cost of GLD disbursements (Other external lawyers) | 40,153 | 8,677 | - |
Non-GLD legal fees (Counsel) | 18,816 | 14,252 | 18,949 |
Total external legal fees | 695,366 | 694,011 | 561,153 |
All figures are exclusive of VAT.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 26 May 2016
Oral Answers to Questions
"These are terrible crimes. One of the problems is inconsistency between police areas. Does the Solicitor General agree that an important role for the College of Policing is to make sure standards are consistent throughout the country?..."Keith Vaz - View Speech
View all Keith Vaz (Lab - Leicester East) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 26 Nov 2015
Oral Answers to Questions
"I agree with the right hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman). This is a big problem, but it is about the providers. What discussions will the Minister have with Serco, Mitie, G4S and other providers about the detention of pregnant women?..."Keith Vaz - View Speech
View all Keith Vaz (Lab - Leicester East) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 02 Jul 2015
Oral Answers to Questions
"Of the 1,271 cases, 11% involve victims who are under the age of 16. In the last Parliament, the Select Committee on Home Affairs specifically asked the Education Secretary to write to every headteacher to make them aware of this problem, especially before the summer holidays. Has this been done? …..."Keith Vaz - View Speech
View all Keith Vaz (Lab - Leicester East) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 02 Jul 2015
Oral Answers to Questions
"The gap is even larger when taken with ethnicity, particularly for Bangladeshi, Pakistani and African-origin women. How will the Minister address that?..."Keith Vaz - View Speech
View all Keith Vaz (Lab - Leicester East) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 10 Feb 2015
Oral Answers to Questions
"Female genital mutilation is a form of domestic abuse. Is the Solicitor-General as concerned as I am that there has been no successful prosecution for FGM in this country, following the acquittal last week of two of those prosecuted?..."Keith Vaz - View Speech
View all Keith Vaz (Lab - Leicester East) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 03 Dec 2014
UK and Gibraltar Prosecuting Authorities
"I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way and for informing me that he was going to raise these comments. This debate seems to be all about the five words that I spoke in the Chamber. As he knows, I wrote to the Chief Minister and I accepted …..."Keith Vaz - View Speech
View all Keith Vaz (Lab - Leicester East) contributions to the debate on: UK and Gibraltar Prosecuting Authorities
Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 03 Dec 2014
UK and Gibraltar Prosecuting Authorities
"The hon. Gentleman is giving the Chamber a robust account of the prosecution system. Can he confirm that there have been no prosecutions for money laundering in Gibraltar?..."Keith Vaz - View Speech
View all Keith Vaz (Lab - Leicester East) contributions to the debate on: UK and Gibraltar Prosecuting Authorities