Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government when a decision will be made and communicated as to whether a fiat will be granted to enable an application to the High Court to reopen the inquest into the death of Julian ‘Jools’ Sweeney.

Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General

After careful consideration, the Solicitor General gave permission to Ellen Roome to make an application to the High Court for a fresh inquest into Jools' death. The Solicitor General believes there is a reasonable prospect the High Court will order one and wrote to Ellen Roome’s legal representative on the 13th of March to confirm this.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how much her Department has spent on special severance payments in each of the last three years.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The total value of severance payments is set out in the department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which are available for the last three years.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how many offences against Jewish people and places of worship have been (a) recorded and (b) prosecuted in each year since 2020 broken down by the (i) ethnicity, (ii) nationality, and (iii) faith of the offender.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Home Office publishes official statistics on religious hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales by targeted religion, including Jewish people. The latest statistical bulletin containing this information can be found here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2025 - GOV.UK

Information on whether the offence was targeted at a place of worship or not, or the ethnicity, nationality or faith of the offender for these offences is not centrally held.

The CPS does not maintain a central record of the number of offences committed against Jewish people or the location of the offending, such as a place of worship. Nor is any central record kept of the nationality or faith of defendants prosecuted. To establish the number of prosecutions where these circumstances applied would require a manual review of case files and this would be at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of a full-time employee of the Crown Prosecution Service serving in the role of Lead Adjudicator for the Independent Appeals Service; and whether the CPS has undertaken any assessment of potential conflicts of interest, reputational risk, or due diligence requirements associated with CPS staff holding external roles.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has established policies and procedures in place to identify, declare and manage actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest, including where members of staff hold external roles or appointments.

The CPS Code of Conduct requires employees to seek written permission from their Head of Area Operations/HQ Business Manager before taking up any second employment or other engagement, whether paid or unpaid, and to ensure that any such work does not conflict with the performance of their duties, create a conflict of loyalty or interest, or damage (or potentially damage) public confidence in the CPS.

The CPS Conflicts of Interest Policy and Procedure requires staff to declare relevant outside interests as they arise and to keep declarations under review. Declarations are assessed by management, and decisions (including any mitigations required to address any real or perceived risks) are recorded to ensure an appropriate audit trail.

Where a declared interest raises particular reputational or propriety concerns, the policy provides for advice to be sought as appropriate, and for steps to be taken to remove or mitigate any conflict. Failures to declare relevant interests, or breaches of the Code of Conduct or Conflicts of Interest policy, may be considered under the CPS disciplinary procedures.

As a matter of longstanding practice, it is not appropriate to comment on the employment details of individual members of staff. Any external role or appointment is considered on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the CPS policies set out above.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how many pupil barristers who undertook pupillage with the Government Legal Department left upon completion in each of the past five years.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Government Legal Department’s (GLD) Legal Trainee Scheme lasts for two years in total. Those who join the GLD as pupil barristers qualify as barristers at the end of Year 1 of the Training Scheme (the pupillage period). They then remain on the Training Scheme for a further 12 months, during which they gain wider experience of GLD’s legal work.

The number of pupil barristers who left upon completion of the two‑year Training Scheme in each of the past five years is as follows:

• Out of the 5 pupil barristers that completed the scheme, 3 pupil barristers left upon completion in 2021.
• Out of the 5 pupil barristers that completed the scheme, no pupil barristers left upon completion in 2022.
• Out of the 5 pupil barristers that completed the scheme, 1 pupil barrister left upon completion in 2023.
• Out of the 3 pupil barristers that completed the scheme, 2 pupil barristers left upon completion in 2024.
• Out of the 3 pupil barristers that completed the scheme, 1 pupil barrister left upon completion in 2025.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, how many trainee solicitors who undertook a training contract with the Government Legal Department left upon completion in each of the past five years.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Government Legal Department’s (GLD) Legal Trainee Scheme is a two‑year programme. Accordingly, the year of completion reflects cohorts who began their training contracts two years earlier.

The number of trainee solicitors who undertook a training contract with the GLD and left upon completion of the two‑year scheme in each of the past five years is as follows:

• Out of the 37 trainee solicitors that completed the scheme, 2 trainee solicitors left upon completion in 2021.
• Out of the 36 trainee solicitors that completed the scheme, 3 trainee solicitors left upon completion in 2022.
• Out of the 37 trainee solicitors that completed the scheme, 2 trainee solicitors left upon completion in 2023.
• Out of the 33 trainee solicitors that completed the scheme, 2 trainee solicitors left upon completion in 2024.
• Out of the 36 trainee solicitors that completed the scheme, 1 trainee solicitor left upon completion in 2025.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer from Lord Hermer on 23 February (HL14709), why they do not hold any data which shows the number of defendants prosecuted, referred, acquitted, or convicted of offences created by sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929.

Answered by Lord Hermer - Attorney General

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) collects data to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions. This data is derived from structured data fields completed by front line staff on individual case records held in the Case Management Information System (CMS) and reported in the Management Information System (MIS).

Within CMS management information (MI) is recorded at the level of defendants in a set of proceedings rather than against the individual offence or offences a defendant may be charged. This includes defendants charged with offences of s58 and s59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and s1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. To identify the prosecution outcomes of offences would require a manual review of case records which would be at disproportionate cost.

The CPS is replacing its current Case Management System. This replacement provides opportunities to design improved management information capabilities to meet future reporting requirements.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to ensure that appropriate oversight is given to the decision by the Serious Fraud Office to not open an investigation into the Vashi diamonds case.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The SFO is a relatively small, highly specialised government department that is permitted by law to investigate only the most serious and complex cases of fraud, bribery and corruption affecting the UK. Decisions on which cases to investigate are taken independently by the SFO, with the Director determining whether to authorise an investigation in accordance with the criteria set out in the Director’s Statement of Principle.

To assist with my oversight of the Serious Fraud Office, I hold regular superintendence meetings with the SFO’s executive team to keep me appraised of relevant SFO casework matters.

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