Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what assessment her Department has made of the potential cost to Secretary of State for Justice's Department of the Crown Prosecution Service converting a broader background of lawyers into solicitors via the Prosecutors Pathway Programme.

The Prosecutor Pathway Programme provides a unique career and development route for our people into the legal profession and ultimately that of a qualified criminal lawyer trained and suitable for deployment in the role of Crown Prosecutor. This sponsored programme seeks to promote development opportunity for those who might otherwise have been unable to consider a career in law due to socio-economic, cultural, or early life opportunities and assure an inclusive and diverse profession for the future.

The Crown Prosecution Service has not made any assessment of the potential cost to the Secretary of State for Justice’s Department through its use of the Prosecutor Pathway Programme.