Mar. 21 2024
Source Page: AGO, GLD & HMCPSI: Business expenses and hospitality for Q3 2023Mar. 21 2024
Source Page: AGO, GLD & HMCPSI: Business expenses and hospitality for Q3 2023Mar. 21 2024
Source Page: AGO, GLD & HMCPSI: Business expenses and hospitality for Q3 2023Mar. 21 2024
Source Page: AGO, GLD & HMCPSI: Business expenses and hospitality for Q3 2023Asked by: William Cash (Conservative - Stone)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether she has agreed with Cabinet colleagues on the circumstances in which international law may supersede domestic legislation.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Law Officers’ Convention requires that it is not generally disclosed outside Government whether I have been asked to provide advice or the contents of any such advice. This is a longstanding principle of Cabinet collective agreement which enables the Government of the day to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the destinations were of domestic overnight visits undertaken by Ministers within their Department in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I refer the Hon Member to my response to UIN 17533 tabled on Wednesday 13 March 2024.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many domestic overnight visits were undertaken by Ministers within her Department in each of the last three financial years; and what the cost to the public purse was of these visits.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Government publishes on GOV.UK details of the cost of overseas Ministerial travel, including costs of travel, and on other costs (visas, accommodation, meals).
But as has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers’ travel at home or abroad.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what estimate she has made of the amount of money lost to fraud and error by her Department in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
There have been no incidents of money lost to fraud and error by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in each of the last three financial years.
Information relating to detected fraud and error for the AGO is published in the HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Annual Reports and Accounts (HMPGTS Accounts). The HMPGTS Accounts for the financial years 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 are available on GOV.UK at the following links: 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23. The HMPGTS Accounts contain information relating to the AGO, Government Legal Department, and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.
The Government is proud of its record in proactively seeking to find and prevent more fraud in the system. We have established the dedicated Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA). In its first year, it delivered £311 million in audited counter fraud benefits.
The PSFA produces a Fraud Landscape Report which is available on GOV.UK: Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Annual Report 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This provides data on fraud and error detection, loss and recoveries in central government, outside of the tax and welfare system. The 2020-21 Report was published in March 2023.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what guidance her Department issues on the use of WhatsApp.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
All departments in central government, including arms lengths bodies apply the published guidance: Using non-corporate communication channels (e.g. WhatsApp, private email, SMS) for government business published by Cabinet Office in March 2023. It applies to all individuals in central government (ministers, special advisers, officials, contractors, non-executive board members and independent experts advising ministers). The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) uses the central guidance and has applied it since March 2023.
Please note that I am responding on behalf of the AGO only, and not the departments superintended by myself and the Attorney General (the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Government Legal Department, and Serious Fraud Office).