Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Oliver Heald and Kwasi Kwarteng

Tuesday 9th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) (Con)]

4. What benefits he expects will be achieved by the continued merger of departmental legal advisers into the Treasury Solicitor’s Department.

[The Solicitor-General (Oliver Heald)]

Sharing legal services brings considerable benefits, including greater flexibility and resilience, more efficient deployment of legal resources, more opportunities for savings and improved knowledge-sharing, which in turn supports consistency.

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for his answer, but what steps is he taking to ensure that TSOL actually does provide value for money, and how will the Government’s legal bill be reduced as a consequence of this merger?

[The Solicitor-General]

This is part of the civil service reform plan, and bringing services together at TSOL has, for example, meant it has become a centre of excellence in employment law. TSOL also has a good record of reducing cost, with 40% efficiencies from its shared litigation service.