Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Cabinet Office publishes sickness absence data for the Civil Service on an annual basis, including by organisation and by absence reason. I refer you to the statistics publicly available which can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence. The next release is likely to be around 18 December 2025.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many (a) active and (b) concluded cases the Government Legal Department has handled relating to legal challenges against the one-in, one-out migrant returns scheme; and what the total cost of that litigation has been.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The UK-France Treaty is an innovative pilot designed to deter illegal migration across the Channel. Litigation related to this pilot was anticipated and we are concentrating resources on robustly defending this so that removals can continue as planned. As of 28 November, 153 individuals have been returned to France through this agreement.
Operational details on the pilot are sensitive, and we will not be disclosing such information as it could inadvertently assist the organised immigration crime gangs that are behind small boats crossings.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how much her Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The department has spent £0 on social media advertising in the last 5 financial years. All spend in these areas are subject to standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many employees in her Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Attorney General’s Office follows Civil Service Commission guidance on recruitment of its staff and remunerates consistent to Cabinet Office rules. All government departments are required to publish the salaries of Senior Civil Servants in their Annual Report and Accounts laid in parliament.
I would direct the MP for Great Yarmouth to the HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25, published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many and what proportion of departmental procurement contracts were awarded to British companies in the 2024-2025 financial year.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (Contracts Finder - GOV.UK). Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).
No procurement contracts were awarded by the AGO below £12,000 during the 2024-2025 financial year.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) does not have any staff working permanently outside the UK.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how much her Department has spent on (a) social media promotions, (b) influencer marketing and (c) online advertising in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what guidance the Crown Prosecution Service provides to prosecutors when considering whether to charge people who have used force in self-defence within their own home.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Charging decisions in cases regarding householders and the use of force against intruders in England and Wales are made independently by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Reasonable force may be used by homeowners to protect themselves or others if a crime is taking place inside their home. This means individuals can protect themselves ‘in the heat of the moment’ - this includes using an object as a weapon or to stop an intruder running off - for example by tackling them to the ground. There is no specific definition of ‘reasonable force’ as this will depend on each individual circumstance. A homeowner does not have to wait to be attacked before defending themselves in their home. If a homeowner has acted in reasonable self-defence and the intruder dies, they will still have acted lawfully.
However, a prosecution could follow if, for example, the attack on an intruder continues after the danger has passed or a trap has been pre-planned for an individual rather than informing and involving the police.
Guidance regarding householders and the use of force against intruders can be found at Householders and the use of force against intruders | The Crown Prosecution Service.
The CPS does not hold any data which shows the number of defendants who were homeowners prosecuted for using unreasonable or excessive force to protect themselves against an intruder in their home. To establish whether defendants were homeowners using excessive force against an intruder would require a manual review of case files and with over 440,000 defendants prosecuted by the CPS during 2024, this would be at disproportionate cost.
Data is held from 2015 showing the number offences of murder, attempted murder, and manslaughter charged by way of common law (or the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 in respect of attempted murder) in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in the magistrates’ courts. From 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2024, 12,418 such offences were charged. This figure relates to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. No data is held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how many homeowners have been prosecuted for using force against individuals unlawfully present in their homes in the last 10 years.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Charging decisions in cases regarding householders and the use of force against intruders in England and Wales are made independently by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Reasonable force may be used by homeowners to protect themselves or others if a crime is taking place inside their home. This means individuals can protect themselves ‘in the heat of the moment’ - this includes using an object as a weapon or to stop an intruder running off - for example by tackling them to the ground. There is no specific definition of ‘reasonable force’ as this will depend on each individual circumstance. A homeowner does not have to wait to be attacked before defending themselves in their home. If a homeowner has acted in reasonable self-defence and the intruder dies, they will still have acted lawfully.
However, a prosecution could follow if, for example, the attack on an intruder continues after the danger has passed or a trap has been pre-planned for an individual rather than informing and involving the police.
Guidance regarding householders and the use of force against intruders can be found at Householders and the use of force against intruders | The Crown Prosecution Service.
The CPS does not hold any data which shows the number of defendants who were homeowners prosecuted for using unreasonable or excessive force to protect themselves against an intruder in their home. To establish whether defendants were homeowners using excessive force against an intruder would require a manual review of case files and with over 440,000 defendants prosecuted by the CPS during 2024, this would be at disproportionate cost.
Data is held from 2015 showing the number offences of murder, attempted murder, and manslaughter charged by way of common law (or the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 in respect of attempted murder) in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in the magistrates’ courts. From 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2024, 12,418 such offences were charged. This figure relates to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. No data is held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to ensure that people who act in good faith to protect themselves or others from intruders are not prosecuted.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Charging decisions in cases regarding householders and the use of force against intruders in England and Wales are made independently by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Reasonable force may be used by homeowners to protect themselves or others if a crime is taking place inside their home. This means individuals can protect themselves ‘in the heat of the moment’ - this includes using an object as a weapon or to stop an intruder running off - for example by tackling them to the ground. There is no specific definition of ‘reasonable force’ as this will depend on each individual circumstance. A homeowner does not have to wait to be attacked before defending themselves in their home. If a homeowner has acted in reasonable self-defence and the intruder dies, they will still have acted lawfully.
However, a prosecution could follow if, for example, the attack on an intruder continues after the danger has passed or a trap has been pre-planned for an individual rather than informing and involving the police.
Guidance regarding householders and the use of force against intruders can be found at Householders and the use of force against intruders | The Crown Prosecution Service.
The CPS does not hold any data which shows the number of defendants who were homeowners prosecuted for using unreasonable or excessive force to protect themselves against an intruder in their home. To establish whether defendants were homeowners using excessive force against an intruder would require a manual review of case files and with over 440,000 defendants prosecuted by the CPS during 2024, this would be at disproportionate cost.
Data is held from 2015 showing the number offences of murder, attempted murder, and manslaughter charged by way of common law (or the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 in respect of attempted murder) in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in the magistrates’ courts. From 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2024, 12,418 such offences were charged. This figure relates to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. No data is held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.