Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2026 to Question 115462 on Sovereignty: Chagos Islands, how many times has the Attorney General met with Dapo Akande.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney and Dapo have met on 5 occasions, including the Attorney General endorsing Dapo Akande’s candidacy to be a judge to the International Court of Justice.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if the Attorney General whether he provided advice to (a) the Prime Minister and (b) the Secretary of State for Local Government on the original decision to cancel local elections in May 2026.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
By long standing convention, whether the Law Officers have been asked to provide advice, and the contents of any such advice, is not disclosed outside Government.
This convention protects the Law Officers’ ability as chief legal advisers to the Government to give full and frank legal advice and provides the fullest guarantee that government business will be conducted at all times in light of thorough and candid legal advice.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, on how many occasions the Attorney General held discussions with Dapo Akande on the Chagos Islands.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General has never engaged in discussion with Dapo Akande on the UK-Mauritius Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, on how many occasions did the Attorney General meet with Philippe Sands KC in discussions on the Chagos Islands.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General has never engaged in discussion with Philippe Sands KC on the UK-Mauritius Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Attorney General has provided legal advice on granting permission to the United States to launch offensive military action against Iran from (a) Diego Garcia and (b) RAF Fairford.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
As you may know, the Law Officers’ Convention applies to advice which may or may not have been given by the Law Officers, or requested of the Law Officers, and the Convention applies to your question.
The Law Officers’ Convention can be found at paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May:
“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 [5.14] of the Ministerial Code [updated on 6 November 2024]. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many people have been prosecuted for flying a drone in a Restricted Fly Zone around (a) closed prisons and (b) young offender institutions since January 2024.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Flying a drone in the restricted airspace around a closed prison or young offender institution is an offence contrary to the Air Navigation Order 2016. The Civil Aviation Authority is responsible for investigating and prosecuting this offence and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any data in respect of it. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any data which shows the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted of offences created by the Prison Act 1952 including the offences created by sections 40B, 40C and 40CB. Similarly, no data is held showing the method of used to convey items into or out of a prison or young offender institution. To establish how many defendants charged with these offences were prosecuted and if a drone was used would require a manual review of case files and this would be at disproportionate cost. Management information is available from 2024 which shows the number of offences charged by way of section 40B, 40C and 40CB in which a prosecution commenced. The table below shows the number of these offences from 1st January 2024 to 30th September 2025.
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Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment he has made of the legality of the US military operation to capture President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Law Officers’ Convention applies to advice which may or may not have been given by the Law Officers, or requested of the Law Officers, and the Convention applies to your question.
The Law Officers’ Convention can be found at paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May:
“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 [5.14] of the Ministerial Code [updated on 6 November 2024]. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Attorney General has had recent discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill’s legal compatibility with the Windsor Framework in relation to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney sits on the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee. As part of the process of approving a government Bill for introduction, as set out in the published Guide to Making Legislation, a legal issues memorandum is prepared for this Committee. This will set out all relevant legal issues.
Whether the Law Officers have been asked to provide advice outside of the PBL process is covered by the Law Officers' Convention. This Convention provides that whether or not the Law Officers have been asked to provide advice, and the contents of any such advice, is not disclosed outside Government.
This protects the Law Officers’ ability as chief legal advisers to the Government to give full and frank legal advice and provides the fullest guarantee that government business will be conducted at all times in light of thorough and candid legal advice.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025, to Question 88976 on Fireworks: Injuries, how many prosecutions have there been in each of the past five financial years for (a) deliberately and (b) negligently causing an injury with a firework.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Acting recklessly with or throwing fireworks can cause life-changing injuries. These actions can result in criminal prosecution and/or civil liability, depending on whether the injury was caused deliberately, recklessly or negligently.
There are numerous offences this can fall under, including: s.39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (common assault/battery) or from the+ Offences against the Person Act 1861: s47 (assault occasioning actual bodily harm), s20 (wounding/inflicting grievous bodily harm), s18 (wounding/causing grievous bodily harm with intent to do grievous bodily harm), s28 (grievous bodily harm by the unlawful explosion of gunpowder or other explosive substance), s29 (unlawfully causing gunpowder or some other explosive substance to explode with intent to cause grievous bodily harm). The charge chosen will depend on the facts and circumstances of the case and the level of injury caused.
During the most recently available 12 months (ending June 2025) management information shows that a total of 102,493 offences charged by way of the above legislation, commenced prosecution in magistrates’ courts. Of these charges the CPS is unable to identify which offences specifically involved fireworks as opposed to physical assaults or the use of other types of weapons, without a manual review of each case, which would incur disproportionate cost.
If an injury is caused through negligence (e.g. due to an accident at a private or publicly organised display) the person who set off the firework (or the event organiser/landowner) may be sued for damages in a civil court. Information on proceedings in civil courts is held by HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many people have been prosecuted for the dangerous use of fireworks each year for the past five years.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Offences relating to the dangerous use or misuse of fireworks can be prosecuted under Section
80 of the Explosives Act 1875 (throw or light a firework in a highway, street or public place),
Section 131(1(d)) and Section 161(2(b)) of Highways Act 1980 (light a fire/discharge a
firework/firearm within 50 feet of a public highway), Section 28 of the Town and Police Clauses
Act 1847 (throw a firework/missile/discharge a firearm/light a fire in the street) and Section 2 of
the Football (Offences) Act 1991 (throw a missile onto a football pitch or adjacent area).
Management information is held by the CPS showing the number of offences in which a
prosecution commenced during each of the last five years for the above legislation.
| 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 |
Explosives Act 1875 { 80 } | 13 | 23 | 15 | 21 | 16 |
Football (Offences) Act 1991 { 2 and 5 } | 14 | 62 | 170 | 154 | 119 |
Highways Act 1980 { 161(2)(b) } | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Town Police Clauses Act 1847 { 28 } | 6 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||||
Of these charges the CPS is unable to identify which offences specifically involved fireworks as
opposed to other types of missiles, without a manual review of each case, which would incur
disproportionate cost.
There is no indication of the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at
the time of finalisation. It is often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than
one offence.