As well as my work as your Member of Parliament – which has always been my highest priority- a part of my day-to-day work is as a government minister, namely in the role of Solicitor General for England and Wales.
As the Solicitor General I play a part in the government’s legal governance as one of the government’s top legal advisers. I also superintend several national agencies and organisations such as the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office. Over the last fortnight for example I have had multiple meetings in my ministerial role and I wanted to share some of the work I have done:
As a Law Officer of the Crown I routinely attend Parliamentary Business and Legislation committees (PBL) which involve the scrutinising of legislation before a proposed law reaches the floor of the House of Commons. In these meetings, I join the Government Chief Whip and the Leader of the House of Commons and other senior ministers and will scrutinise a particular Bill brought to us by a government department. It is our job to ‘stress test’ the Bill to ensure that it is ready to be introduced for debate. In particular, my role here is to ensure the Bill meets legal safeguards and the measures in the Bill do not overlap with or override current law.
Another meeting I had in the past fortnight was with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Ministerial Board where I and the Attorney General have our routine catch up and discussion with the leaders of the CPS – who are in charge of prosecuting criminal cases that have been investigated by the Police and other investigative organisations in this country. One of the key ways in which I work with the CPS is to give Law Officer’s Consent to Prosecute – certain serious cases which may involve national security or terrorist offences sometimes require consent from a Law Officer (either the Solicitor General or Attorney General) in order for the CPS to bring charges forward. This is an important safeguard to ensure that certain offences are not brought against people without proper due diligence. Using my background as a criminal barrister in Northampton for many years before I became an MP, I will carefully consider a case brought to me and make a decision on whether or not to grant consent.
These are just two of the many boards or committees I sit on, or attend by invitation, as the Solicitor General on behalf of the Government – others include the Serious Fraud Office Ministerial Board, the regular Law Officer meetings as well as the Pro Bono Committee, which covers free legal work members of the legal community generously undertake for those who are in need.
All of my work as a minister is targeted around ensuring that justice is served in a fair and just manner in this country.