Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, with reference to the Government Legal Service publication, “the Judge over your shoulder”, para 3.15, what supplementary advice or guidance have the Law Officers or GLS given on whether a reconsideration of a Ministerial decision requires a new Minister to take the fresh decision.

With reference to the publication, JOYS: The Judge Over Your Shoulder, the Government Legal Department is not aware of any supplementary advice or guidance on whether a reconsideration of a Ministerial decision requires a new Minister to take the fresh decision.

In addition, it is a longstanding convention that whether the Law Officers have advised or have not advised, and the content of their advice, must not be disclosed outside government without their authority