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Written Question
Good Law Project: Legal Costs
Monday 27th November 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what was the total sum (a) paid to and (b) received from the Good Law Project by HM Government in respect of legal costs in each financial year since 2017-18.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)


There were 42 case files opened in respect of actual court proceedings between His Majesty’s Government and the Good Law Project during the period since the start of the 2017-18 financial year. HM Government won 19 and lost 6, 7 cases were settled, and 9 cases were withdrawn by the Good Law Project. One has yet to deliver an outcome.

In total, in regard to these 42 cases:

The Good Law Project has paid £984,098.45 in legal costs to HM Government, while HM Government has paid £160,925.71 in legal costs to the Good Law Project.

In financial year 2017-2018, no payments were made or received.

In financial year 2018-2019, £40,000 was paid to, and £4,753 was received from, the Good Law Project.

In financial year 2019-2020, £0 was paid to, and £59,013.19 was received from, the Good Law Project.

In financial year 2020-2021, £85,000 was paid to, and £10,000 was received from, the Good Law Project.

In financial year 2021-2022, £0 was paid to, and £286,000 was received from, the Good Law Project.

In financial year 2022-2023, £35,925.71 was paid to, and £544,000 was received from, the Good Law Project.

In financial year 2023-2024, £0 has been paid to, and £80,332.26 has been received from, the Good Law Project.


Written Question
Crown Prosecution Service: Stonewall
Friday 17th November 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many times the Crown Prosecution Service met Stonewall in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023 to 8 November.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold a central record of local meetings with stakeholders across all 14 CPS Areas and Central Casework Divisions.

At a national headquarters level, the CPS met with Stonewall three times in 2023 in the context of national forums on hate crime, where a broad range of other external stakeholders were also in attendance. There were no meetings with Stonewall at a national level in 2022.


Written Question
Facebook: Prosecutions
Tuesday 14th November 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many people were prosecuted for offences relating to posts made on Facebook in each year for which records exist.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data on the number of people prosecuted for offences relating to social media posts. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.


Written Question
TikTok: Prosecutions
Tuesday 14th November 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many people were prosecuted for offences relating to posts made on TikTok for in each year for which records exist.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data on the number of people prosecuted for offences relating to social media posts. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Twitter: Prosecutions
Tuesday 14th November 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many people were prosecuted for offences relating to posts made on X in each year for which records exist.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data on the number of people prosecuted for offences relating to social media posts. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Crown Prosecution Service: Equality
Thursday 21st September 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many people were employed by the Crown Prosecution Service to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity since 2020.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The total full time equivalent “FTE” staff employed by the Crown Prosecution Service to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity since 2020 are listed below:

• 5.25 FTE staff as of December 2020
• 6.35 FTE staff as of December 2021
• 5.35 FTE staff as of December 2022
• 5.1 FTE staff as of 31 August 2023


Written Question
Crown Prosecution Service: Equality
Tuesday 25th July 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how much the Crown Prosecution Service spent on (a) training and (b) staff related to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

(a) Training: the total spending on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training for the financial year 2021/22 was £85,467.00. This includes Learning & Development, HQ Diversity & Inclusion, Staff Networks, and CPS areas. The total spending on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training for the financial year 2022/23) was £77,975.77. This includes Learning & Development, HQ Diversity & Inclusion, Staff Networks, and CPS areas. (b) Staff: the total spending for salary costs for staff related to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) for the financial year 2021/22 was £241,927. This equates to 6 FTE staff in HQ D&I team. The total spending for salary costs for staff related to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) for the financial year 2022/23 was £191,908. This equates to 5 FTE staff in HQ D&I team.


Written Question
Attorney General: Equality
Thursday 8th June 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many people were employed by her Department to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) receive HR services from the Government Legal Department (GLD). This includes equality, diversity, and inclusivity roles and therefore the AGO does not hold this information.


Written Question
Climate Change: Protest
Tuesday 9th May 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 30 March 2023 to Question 174192 on Climate Change: Protest, what information her Department holds on (a) disciplinary or (b) other consequences for advocates used by the Crown Prosecution Service who do not comply with the cab rank principle; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

Non-compliance with the standards of conduct set out in the Bar Standards Board (BSB) Handbook is a matter for the BSB. The CPS does not hold any information on non-compliance with the cab rank principle by advocates it has sought to instruct. Furthermore, upon review, the CPS has confirmed that none of the signatories of the “Lawyers Are Responsible” declaration are current members of the CPS Advocate Panel or non-Panel advocates instructed by the CPS, such as King’s Counsel.


Written Question
Climate Change: Protest
Thursday 30th March 2023

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision by some lawyers to not participate in the prosecution of climate activists on the functioning of the legal system.

Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)

The “cab rank rule” is an important principle which safeguards the rule of law and ensures fair access to justice. Action such as this undermines the independence of the legal profession and is fundamentally at odds with the idea that every person is entitled to a fair trial. The impact of this action on the Crown Prosecution Service will be negligible, not least because many of those “refusing” to prosecute are not in fact qualified to do so. The Crown Prosecution Service utilises a mix of in-house advocates and agent prosecutors alongside members of the self-employed Bar. This flexibility ensures access to a large pool of high-quality advocates and I am confident that these cases will be prosecuted without undue delay. Both the Bar Council and the Criminal Bar Association have issued robust responses here: The cab rank rule and legal representation (barcouncil.org.uk) and here: Chair’s Monday Message – 27.03.23 – Criminal Bar Association