Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2026 to Question 3763 and with reference to the Answer of of 19 January 2026 to Question 104195 on Government Communication Service: Staff, how many headcount staff in (a) the Attorney General’s Office and (b) each of its superintended departments are (i) members of the Government Communication Network and (ii) embedded communicators who are not counted as members of the Government Communication Network.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government Communication Service (GCS) is the professional network of all communications staff across Government.
The table below contains the headcount for the Attorney General’s Office and each of its superintended departments who are communications professionals.
Department | Headcount | Member of GCS |
AGO | 8 | 8 |
CPS | 65 | 65 |
GLD | 14 | 14 |
SFO | 15 | 12 |
HMCPSI | 0 | 0 |
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the letter, "Simplification and Agency of Government - Letter to all ministers", of 7 September 2026, if she will make it her policy to place the updated legal risk guidance in the Library of the House once it has been produced.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Attorney General
My updated Legal Risk guidance was published on GOV.UK on 8th September 2026. I have directed my officials to place a copy in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the letter entitled, Simplification and Agency of Government - Letter to all ministers, of 7 September 2026, whether she plans to legislate to disapply the Gunning principles and case law on consultation requirements and expectations, including R v London Borough of Brent ex parte Gunning (1985).
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The government currently has no plans to legislate to disapply the Gunning principles, which will still have a place in the exceptional circumstances where formal consultation is required. Such circumstances should only include where there is a statutory requirement to consult, where it would be conspicuously unfair not to consult, or where ministers believe there is a good case for seeking external input and that the right vehicle for doing so is a formal consultation.Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the Answer of 11 March 2026, to Question 110793, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Flexible Working, how many and what proportion of full-time staff on full pay (1.0 FTE) in (a) her Department and (b) Crown Prosecution Service work compressed hours over a four day week.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The tables below contain data for the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) relevant to the question.
AGO
Working Pattern | Headcount total | Headcount (%) |
Full Time | 68 | 88.3% |
Full Time - Compressed Hours | 8 | 10.4% |
Part Time | 1 | 1.3% |
Grand Total | 77 | 100% |
CPS
Working Pattern | Headcount total | Headcount (%) |
Full Time | 6102 | 71.41% |
Full Time - Compressed Hours | 704 | 8.24% |
Part Time | 1739 | 20.35% |
Grand Total | 8545 | 100.00% |
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the answer of 28 August 2026, to Question 17707, on Attorney General’s Office staff, if she will list each external organisation that has seconded staff to the department since July 2026, and each organisation to which Civil Servants have been seconded.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Since July 2026, no staff have been seconded to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) from external organisations. During the same period, no AGO civil servants have been seconded to external organisations.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether the Government plans to negotiate changes to the European Convention of Human Rights at a Council of Europe level.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The PQ relates to whether the government plans to negotiate changes to the European Convention of Human Rights at a Council of Europe level. There are no current plans to do so. However, the response refers to the recent Chișinău Declaration which concerns the ECHR and migration and which was adopted by the full Council of Europe in May 2026.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, further to the answer of 3 June 2026, to Question 3339, on Special Advisers: Public Appointments, whether any delivery advisers have been appointed to date, broken down by (a) special advisers, (b) Direct Ministerial Appointments, (c) civil servants appointed by exception, and (d) permanent civil servants appointed through open competition.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
No delivery advisers have been appointed either by Direct Ministerial Appointment, as civil servants appointed by exception, or as permanent civil servants appointed through open competition. A list of special advisers is published each year in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of the use of technology to improve efficiency in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has assessed that modern digital technologies can enhance existing processes and support more efficient case handling. Through its Future Casework Tools programme, the CPS is modernising systems to improve the casework experience and reduce the time required to review case files. The CPS is also working with His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service on initiatives such as digital jury bundles, which aim to increase transparency, accessibility and efficiency in court proceedings.
The CPS has further assessed that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to deliver substantial efficiency gains by assisting with routine administrative tasks. This can enable prosecutors and other specialists to devote more time to complex legal work and decision-making. The CPS published its AI Vision in July 2025, setting out how AI can be used to drive efficiencies in a legal, safe and ethical manner, while ensuring responsible use, transparency and coordination across the criminal justice system.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether her Department monitors the amount of food waste generated by its offices each month.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not individually monitor the amount of food waste. The AGO is located in a shared building where facilities management is overseen by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, further to the answer of 22 June 2026, to Question 10189, on Databases: EU law, if they will list the data and reporting requirements that the Attorney General’s Office and each of its superintended departments must make to the European Commission and its agencies.
Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The UK and EU share information and data as part of our broader cooperation on trade, economy, and security.
The Attorney General’s Office is a small ministerial department and does not maintain any databases for the purpose of reporting information directly to the European Commission or its agencies. Where information is provided in relation to international obligations, this would ordinarily be coordinated through the lead Government department responsible for the relevant policy area.
The Crown Prosecution Service does not have any formal direct reporting requirements to the EU Commission. For the Government Legal Department (GLD), any reporting obligations arising from policy or operational activity would generally sit with the relevant client department, rather than with GLD itself. The Serious Fraud Office does not provide any reporting to the European Commission. HMCPSI does not have any data and reporting requirements in relation to the European Commission and its agencies.