Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Holden Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jack Rankin (Windsor) (Con)]

4. What steps she is taking to increase transparency in the Attorney General's Office.

[Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

6. What steps she is taking to manage conflicts of interest in the Attorney General’s Office.

[Patrick Spencer (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)]

10. What steps she is taking to manage conflicts of interest in the Attorney General’s Office.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor General]

The hon. Member will know that the Attorney General ceased all private practice following his appointment. The hon. Member refers to fee agreements, and he will know that there are different arrangements and requirements for declarations for Members of the House of Lords and for Members of the House of Commons. It does not matter which type of fee agreement is in place between a lawyer and their client, because the entirety of those agreements—whether a conditional fee agreement, a damages-based agreement, on a fully paid basis or when acting pro bono—will always be caught by the conflicts process. The requirements for the purposes of the House of Lords are the same for all peers and they apply just as much to the shadow Attorney General as to the Attorney General.

[Mr Holden]

Does the Solicitor General agree with the recent Policy Exchange research paper “Conflicts of Interest and the Law Officers’ Convention” authored by Dr Conor Casey, a senior lecturer at Surrey law school, and supported by three former Ministers who are all KCs, that invoking the Law Officers’ convention on questions about the potential conflict of interest relating to the work of the Attorney General would be an error, as such questions do not fall within the scope of the convention?

[The Solicitor General]

As I have said, the Attorney General’s Office has a rigorous process for identifying and dealing with conflicts and potential conflicts that arise from the Law Officers’ former practice. The Law Officers’ convention, to which the right hon. Member referred, exists for very good reason, which is to enable the Government of this country to receive full and frank advice. In any event, the Attorney General has been clear that he does not agree with that report. In particular, he does not agree that a Law Officer would indicate whether they have recused themselves from a particular matter, because that in itself would breach the Law Officers’ convention.