Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, if she has provided advice on whether F-35 components supplied by the UK to Israel via a third party are used by Israel in Gaza in compliance with international humanitarian law.

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, and it applies to your question.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in her Department since the dissolution of the last Parliament; and on what items this was spent.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Following the dissolution of the last Parliament on 30 May 2024 and before the General Election on 4 July 2024, and prior to the appointment of the Attorney General and I, officials in the Attorney General’s Office arranged for the two ministerial offices to be modestly refurbished. The refurbishment was completed on 30 June 2024 and the costs are set out below.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to increase the number of prosecutions for domestic violence; and what steps she plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that victims of domestic violence receive appropriate support to (a) navigate and (b) have confidence in the criminal justice system.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Strengthening the criminal justice system response to domestic abuse and increasing victim confidence are crucial to achieving this Government’s ambitious commitment to halve violence against women and girls this decade.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) takes prosecuting domestic abuse very seriously and maintains a steady charge rate of over 75% and a conviction rate of approximately 76%.

Next month, in partnership with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the CPS will publish a national joint justice plan to transform how cases of domestic abuse are prosecuted and handled. The plan recognises that better communication between the CPS and NPCC improves case outcomes for victims. Additionally, through its Victim Transformation Programme the CPS is improving the service it provides to victims of crime.

The Ministry of Justice provides funding to Police and Crime Commissioners who commission community-based support services for domestic abuse victims and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors. The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (Act) aims to improve support for victims of domestic abuse by placing a duty on local commissioners in England to collaborate when commissioning services for victims of domestic abuse. The duty will require commissioners to assess the needs of victims of domestic abuse in their area and produce a joint local commissioning strategy. The Act will also improve awareness of and compliance with the Victims’ Code, which supports victims of crime to understand what they can expect from the criminal justice system and sets out the minimum level of service that victims should receive.

The Home Office will also ensure that there are specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force and police officers receive stronger training on racism and violence against women and girls.

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 - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

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

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how many cases are awaiting charging decisions by the Crown Prosecution Service for (a) summary only, (b) either way and (c) indictable only offences.

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 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 was 13,697. This data is provided in line with the last quarterly data release in March 2024. The next quarterly release is due on 17 October 2024 which will be available on the CPS website at CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.

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.

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 - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

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.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to ensure transparency in Crown Prosecution Service decisions.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Code for Crown Prosecutors makes clear that, when making decisions, prosecutors must be fair and objective and act in the interests of justice. To maintain transparency around its legal decision-making, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has integrated several processes into its working practices to ensure that victims are informed about decisions and the support available to them.

Since January 2020, the CPS has published quarterly bulletins of data tables and summaries of main trends as part of the CPS’s commitment to transparency on prosecution performance, which contain performance data on overall prosecution figures, police referrals, and charging rates in a range of offence types. These can be found here: CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.

Transparency is important in particular for victims. Under the Victim Communication and Liaison scheme, in certain circumstances the CPS communicates directly with victims to explain its legal decision-making for charging. It also provides enhanced services to bereaved families of victims, including meetings to explain its legal decisions. To improve this offer, the CPS is testing direct communication of its charging decisions in a small number of regional areas, using victims’ preferred method of contact.

Victims may also seek a review of certain CPS decisions not to start a prosecution or to stop a prosecution, under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme.

The CPS also engages with communities impacted by hate crime and Violence Against Women and Girls through convening Local Scrutiny Involvement Panels. These panels enable the CPS to explain its role in the criminal justice system and how prosecutors make charging decisions.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answers of 6 September 2024 to Questions 2306 and 2308 on Ministers: Official Cars, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have (i) been allocated a dedicated vehicle and (ii) access to use of a shared vehicle from the Government Car Service; what the (A) make, (B) model and (C) fuel type is for each car; and what the budget was for those cars in the 2024-25 financial year.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles to its ministerial cadre/officials, as under previous administrations.

The Attorney General’s Office is currently allocated two vehicles including allocated and shared vehicles.

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.

The average cost to a department for a single DPC (Department Pool Car) in 2024/25 financial years is £108K per annum.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what her Department's policy is on the allocation of Government Car Service cars to senior officials; what the policy was on 24 May 2024; and which senior officials have been granted access to the service since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles.

The arrangements relating to the using of vehicles in the Government Car Service is set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

There has been no change in this policy since the general election.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) her Department and (b) the Crown Prosecution Service was in each of the last three years.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Our records show that between 2021 and October 2024, Attorney General’s Office and Crown Prosecution Service employees have taken paternity leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

The average working days taken (AWDT) is shown in the table below.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) her officials have held with external stakeholders since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how many registered freehold titles in England and Wales are vested in the Crown as bona vacantia as a consequence of companies being dissolved through (a) striking off by the Registrar of Companies and (b) a formal liquidation process.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Bona Vacantia Division (“the Division”) of the Government Legal Department acts on behalf of the Treasury Solicitor (the Crown’s Nominee for bona vacantia).

The Division is currently dealing with 380 freehold titles which appear to have vested as bona vacantia following dissolution via striking off by the Registrar of Companies or formal liquidation.

Freehold titles from companies dissolved following liquidation are less likely to vest as bona vacantia as they are normally disposed of prior to dissolution by the Insolvency Practitioner.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how many and what proportion of desks were occupied in each of her Department’s offices in the most recent four weeks for which figures are available; and how many staff attended each office in person in the same period.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Heads of Department have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service. Office occupancy data for the period July - September has been published, with further publications to now happen on a quarterly basis. The data is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-hq-occupancy-data.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, whether (a) the Attorney General has had and (b) officials in his Department have had discussions with the Metropolitan Police on Special Escort Group policing for (i) Taylor Swift and (ii) her entourage.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

It is a long-standing convention that 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, is provided for in paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May, and applies to your question.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, if she will hold discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service on reducing the number of pre-charge cases awaiting decision.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

Public confidence in the criminal justice is underpinned by access to swift justice. It is critical that cases progress through the system as quickly as possible, both before and after a charge is made. Improving timeliness and reducing the backlogs of outstanding cases are a priority for me and for this Government.

I will of course be holding discussions about these issues with the Crown Prosecution Service, with a view to making systemic improvements as quickly as possible.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the advice of the Attorney General on arms exports to Israel required certain export licences to be suspended.

Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General

Paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May states:

“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 2.13 of the Ministerial Code. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”

This is known as the Law Officers’ Convention and it applies to your question.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7035 on Attorney General: Official Cars, whether either of the two vehicles are electric cars.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.

The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7035 on Attorney General: Official Cars, if she will name which specific senior officials have access to a Government car; and whether these senior officials had access to a Government car before the 2024 general election.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.

The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

Found: The new Attorney -General, Lord Hermer, as you will know, gave a number of speeches and lectures recently

Found: The new Attorney-General, Lord Hermer, as you will know, gave a number of speeches and lectures recently

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Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to remove the documentary Silenced from online distribution.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The removal of online content is not within my department’s powers.

I can confirm that this film has not been classified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

It is for the courts to determine whether this content is in contempt of court and for the online sites hosting the content to remove content where it breaches their own standards or where instructed.

A person may be liable for contempt of court where they know of an injunction and do anything to help or permit the person to whom it applies to breach its terms. It is for the Attorney General to consider each particular case and determine the appropriate course of action. Bringing proceedings for contempt of court is a Law Officer function which is exercised independently of the government.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking with the Attorney General to speed up the justice system for victims of domestic violence.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

This Government inherited a record and rising court backlogs which have seen too many victims waiting far too long for justice.

We are committed to bearing down on the court backlog to speed up the delivery of justice.

Timely and effective justice is key to increasing the confidence of victims and survivors in the justice system. Strengthening the justice system response to domestic abuse and increasing victim confidence are crucial to achieving this Government’s ambitious commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) this decade.

The decision on when and where a case is listed is the responsibility of the independent judiciary, although judges do look to prioritise cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses, such as victims and survivors of domestic abuse, wherever possible.

In addition, CPS, NPCC and College of Policing’s Joint Justice Plan aims to transform how the police and the CPS investigate and prosecute domestic abuse cases, including a commitment to improve the timelessness and effectiveness of investigating and charging in domestic abuse cases. I look forward to the publication of this plan in November.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what his planned timetable is for resuming inquests relating to the troubles in Northern Ireland that ended when the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 came into force; and whether those referred from the Attorney General will receive an inquest.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Government has made clear its intention to propose measures that allow legacy inquests previously halted by the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy & Reconciliation) Act 2023 to proceed, should that be the preference of the victims’s families.

A number of inquests were referred to the coroners’ service by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland shortly before the Act came into force. I am considering the approach to these as part of my ongoing consultation process with interested parties. I want to make progress as swiftly as possible.

As I set out in my Written Ministerial Statement of 7 October, the Government is now carefully considering its next steps following the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal’s judgment in light of the additional declarations of incompatibility made by the Court of Appeal. At the same time, the Government will continue to explore measures to strengthen the ICRIR to ensure that it is both human rights compliant and able to command support from across communities in Northern Ireland.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the appointment of General Gwyn Jenkins as National Security Adviser has been cancelled; whether (a) the Prime Minister's former Chief of Staff had a role in and (b) the Attorney General had discussions with the Prime Minister on that decision; and whether the post will be advertised externally.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Sir Tim Barrow is the National Security Advisor. There will be an open and transparent process to appoint his successor. All senior appointments will be considered in the usual way.

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