Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much the Serious Fraud Office spent on equality and diversity training in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
On 2 October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a value for money audit of all EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) spending in the Civil Service.
The audit will dovetail with the public sector productivity review, aiming at delivering a leaner, more efficient government. The audit forms part of our drive to improve productivity across the public sector by driving down waste and improving performance.
The findings and actions of the audit will be announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how much their Department spent on equality and diversity training in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
On 2 October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a value for money audit of all EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) spending in the Civil Service.
The audit will dovetail with the public sector productivity review, aiming at delivering a leaner, more efficient government. The audit forms part of our drive to improve productivity across the public sector by driving down waste and improving performance.
The findings and actions of the audit will be announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what their Departments policy is on Civil Servants in their Department working from home and receiving the London Weighting Allowance.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) pay policies are negotiated by the Government Legal Department (GLD) and they do not have a policy on Civil Servants working from home and receiving the London Weighting Allowance.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the average time taken by his Department to respond to freedom of information requests in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Official national statistics on Freedom of Information (FOI) request performance for all central government departments and other monitored bodies can be found on www.gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics
The statistics cover calendar rather than financial years. In 2022, 97% of FOI requests received by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) were responded to or extended appropriately within the 20 working day statutory deadline.
The AGO consistently ranks among the best in terms of response timeliness to FOI requests across all central government departments. Nevertheless, the AGO continually monitor and look for ways to improve performance in relation to FOI request handling.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what has been the average time taken to respond to public inquiries by her Department in each of the last five years; and whether she plans to introduce measures to improve this
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The nature of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) is such that the Department does not sponsor public inquiries, as the Department does not hold any policy interests or operational responsibilities. As the AGO has not sponsored a public inquiry in the last 5 years, the Department has not been required to respond to the findings of any public inquiries in the last 5 years.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps their Department is taking to improve the response time to FOI requests.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
Official national statistics on Freedom of Information (FOI) request performance for all central government departments and other monitored bodies can be found on www.gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics
The statistics cover calendar rather than financial years. In 2022, 97% of FOI requests received by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) were responded to or extended appropriately within the 20 working day statutory deadline.
The AGO consistently ranks among the best in terms of response timeliness to FOI requests across all central government departments. Nevertheless, the AGO continually monitor and look for ways to improve performance in relation to FOI request handling.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the average response time to subject access requests was by their Department in the latest period for which data is available; and if they will make an assessment of the adequacy of that response time.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has an average response time of 27 calendar days.
While the AGO has a strong record for responding to Subject Access Requests (SARs) well within the statutory deadline, the AGO continually monitor and look for ways to improve our performance in relation to handling SARs received by the department.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps they are taking to reduce backlogs of Member correspondence in their office.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Cabinet Office published the data on the timeliness of responses to correspondence from Members for 2022 for all government departments on GOV.UK in March 2023. The data for Q1 and Q2 2023 will be published shortly. The 2022 data can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers-2022
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not have a backlog of Member correspondence, and the AGO consistently ranks among the best in terms of response timeliness across all central government departments. Nonetheless, the AGO continually monitor and look for ways to improve our performance in relation to correspondence handling.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what data their Department holds on the average response time to enquiries by Members; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy of that response time.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Cabinet Office published the data on the timeliness of responses to correspondence from Members for 2022 for all government departments on GOV.UK in March 2023. The data for Q1 and Q2 2023 will be published shortly. The 2022 data can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers-2022
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not have a backlog of Member correspondence, and the AGO consistently ranks among the best in terms of response timeliness across all central government departments. Nonetheless, the AGO continually monitor and look for ways to improve our performance in relation to correspondence handling.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps their Department is taking to improve its digital services to provide better (a) accessibility and (b) user experience for the public.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provide digital services to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), which includes our internal intranet.
The AGO does not have an external public facing internet site other than the page on gov.uk and Cabinet Office manage the digital development.