Corporate report

HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23

Published 8 June 2023

HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor

Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23,
For the year ended 31 March 2023

Performance Report

The Performance Report includes a summary of the department's purpose and activities (the Overview) followed by a review of progress against performance measures and an overview of significant events that have taken place during the financial year (the Performance Analysis). A summary of risks and mitigating actions is set out in the Governance Statement on page 31.

Overview

Introduction

The Office of the Solicitor for the affairs of His Majesty’s Treasury (the Treasury Solicitor) was incorporated as a corporation sole by the Treasury Solicitor Act 1876. Since then the nature of the work of the Government Legal Department has expanded greatly and today it provides a comprehensive legal service to other government departments in England and Wales and is one of the largest legal organisations in the country. The Treasury Solicitor is also Head of the Government Legal Profession.

The Government Legal Department (GLD) is a non-ministerial government department and executive agency. In addition to being responsible for all financial activity within GLD, the Treasury Solicitor is also responsible for financial matters at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI).

The financial statements on pages 69 to 85 cover all these bodies and have been prepared under an accounts direction issued in December 2022 by HM Treasury (HMT), in accordance with section 5(2) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. The Accounts demonstrate the resources that have been consumed in delivering the department’s objectives. They have been prepared in accordance with the guidance set out in the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM).

Entities within the Accounts

These Accounts present the consolidated results for 2022-23 of the:

• Government Legal Department (GLD)

• Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

• HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI)

Government Legal Department

GLD’s purpose is to help the government to govern well, within the rule of law.

GLD’s vision for 2019-2024 is to be:

• An outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism.

• A brilliant place to work, where we can all thrive and fulfill our potential.

The principal activities of GLD are as follows:

• Advisory - GLD has expert advisory teams specialising in the work of their client department, providing risk-based and solution-focused legal advice. GLD lawyers are crucial throughout the lifecycle of government policy. They advise on and draft legislation and work to take it through Parliament; advising departments and ministers on the legal implications of government policy, and ensuring it stands up to Parliamentary scrutiny.

• Litigation - GLD’s litigation group is comprised of three divisions: Defence and Security, Home Office and Immigration, and Justice and Development. Litigation lawyers handle high profile public and private law litigation for central government departments, security agencies, and other public bodies; including UK military and security bodies. The divisions also undertake inquest, inquiry and injunctive work for GLD’s clients. GLD litigation teams are currently handling approximately 27,000 pieces of litigation.

• Employment - As one of the largest employment law practices in the country, GLD’s Employment Group advise on complex and fast-moving legal areas including: claims for unfair dismissal and relating to discrimination; pay issues; contractual issues and terms and conditions; and whistleblowing claims. The TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) and Transactional Hub provides specialist advice on employment and pensions issues to help manage employment-related risks, while the Industrial Hub advises on trade union matters and industrial action. The National Security Hub manages advice work and litigation claims requiring a knowledge of security vetting or the management of protected material.

• Commercial - The Commercial Law Group (CLGp) provides expert advice on transactional, litigation, property and advisory commercial legal matters. Transactional and advisory teams advise government departments on their commercial work, ensuring value for money in the purchase of goods and services for the public sector. The litigation and dispute resolution team supports the government in high profile legal claims, and saves taxpayer money by pursuing alternative forums (mediation, adjudication). The GLD Property Hub provides strategic commercial property advice, and supports government departments and agencies via training on property issues.

• The Statutory Instrument (SI) Hub is the GLD’s specialist statutory instrument drafting service and Centre of Excellence for secondary legislation, with 30 lawyers drafting secondary legislation for all of GLD’s client departments. The SI Hub Centre of Excellence makes a major contribution to helping lawyers across GLD improve the quality of their drafting, through its structured SI training programme, the annual SI conference and drafting guidance.

• The Finance, Operations and Digital, and Strategy, People and Culture Divisions are responsible for developing the department’s strategy and plans and leading and co-ordinating programmes of activity across the department to deliver cost effective legal and support services that address the needs of clients and staff. This includes the provision of corporate services covering governance and strategy, communications and engagement, finance, planning and performance, human resources, procurement, facilities management, security, information and communications technology (ICT), business assurance and resilience, and library and records management services.

• Bona Vacantia Division, on behalf of the Crown’s Nominee administers the estates of people who die intestate and without relatives entitled to inherit and collects the assets of dissolved companies and failed trusts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, except in the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster. The costs of the Division are recovered from the estates and assets it administers. The proceeds of bona vacantia are accounted for in the Crown’s Nominee Accounts and separately notified to Parliament as prescribed in the Treasury Solicitor (Crown’s Nominee) Rules 1997 (SI.1997/2870).

• The Knowledge and Innovation Division lead on developing the department’s integrated Legal Knowledge, Capability and Innovation Strategy, working with legal divisions to professionalise legal knowledge and learning activity and to develop innovative and flexible approaches to meeting client needs.

Attorney General’s Office

The Attorney General’s Office (the AGO) is a specialist ministerial department serving the Attorney General and the Solicitor General (the Law Officers for England and Wales) across the full range of their functions.

The Law Officers are the government’s chief legal advisers, helping the government to deliver policy in the context of upholding and promoting the rule of law and performing a visible and effective role as leaders in the domestic and international legal community.

They also have sponsorship responsibilities in relation to the Government Legal Department (GLD), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). They take a close interest in any matters of criminal justice policy and practice bearing on the role of the prosecutors. In addition, they perform a range of civil and criminal law litigation functions exercisable in the public interest, including referring sentences which may be unduly lenient to the Court of Appeal, bringing proceedings for contempt of court and authorising applications for fresh inquests. The Attorney General is ministerial head of the government legal profession and, alongside the CPS and SFO, is answerable in Parliament for the operations of the Government Legal Department (GLD). The Attorney General is also head of the Bar of England and Wales and exercises a leadership role in relation to the wider legal professions; the Attorney also holds the separate office of Advocate General for Northern Ireland.

The AGO’s Business Plan sets out its priorities for 2022-23 and is published on gov.uk. The plan is reviewed each year based on ministerial priorities, and business requirements. The AGO’s objectives focused on:

• Helping deliver Government policy in the context of the Law Officers’ constitutional role in relation to the Rule of Law

• Defining and delivering the Law Officers’ public interest functions in the interests of the administration of justice

• Sponsoring the Law Officers’ Departments and connecting the work of the prosecutors with wider criminal justice policy.

• Ensuring a high performing and efficient Attorney General’s Office which meets its legal and performance obligations.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

The Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate Act 2000 created the role of HM Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service. The Chief Inspector is appointed by, and reports, to the Attorney General. The Chief Inspector also fulfils the function of Chief Executive of HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate. Since it was established, the Inspectorate’s statutory remit has been broadened to include the Serious Fraud Office (ASBCP Act 2014 – section 149 commencement).

The purpose of the Inspectorate’s work is to inspect the operation of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and to provide independently assessed evidence to allow others to hold those agencies to account thereby encouraging improvement. HMCPSI can undertake inspection by invitation.

HMCPSI’s strategic objectives are:

• To deliver high quality assessments on the SFO and CPS to inform them and those who hold them to account.

• To work collaboratively with other inspectorates and develop effective working relationships in order to achieve the first objective.

• To promote HMCPSI to targeted stakeholder and media audiences to widen and maintain the interest in the work of the inspectorate.

• To ensure that HMCPSI reports are well written so that they are of use to the target audience(s).

• To recruit and develop the best people so HMCPSI has a high performing workforce with the right skills and values for the job.

• To run an efficient and effective organisation that meets the best standards of government department in order to provide value for money.

Performance Analysis

Performance Measures

The following performance measures were agreed with HMT. These all relate to GLD.

Performance Measure	Outturn 2022-23	Outturn 2021-22
To improve client satisfaction ratings:
Percentage Good or Excellent	95%	96%
Average score (Excellent: 10, Good: 5, Acceptable: 0, Poor: -5, Unacceptable: -10)	7.96	8.06
To recover from clients the full operating costs of chargeable services	Achieved	Achieved
To retain Lexcel accreditation	Achieved	Achieved

Client Satisfaction

GLD's aim is to achieve a 95% or above rating in the annual survey of client satisfaction, and while 95% of clients rated GLD services as good or excellent this was a percentage point reduction on last year. Using the average score of 7.96, there was a 1% decrease from last year. This should be seen against the context of significant changes in government and pressure on staff. As ever, the survey has highlighted some issues that need to be addressed and an action plan will be developed in response.

Lexcel

Lexcel is the Law Society's legal practice quality mark for practice management and client care. GLD litigators across Litigation, Employment and Commercial Law Groups were once again found to be meeting the requirements of Version 6.1 of the Lexcel Standard in the latest external assessment. The Lexcel assessor concluded that "GLD should again continue to be extremely highly commended for sustaining a very high level of compliance against the Lexcel Standard. This continues to be extremely noteworthy given the current context – both internal and external. It continues to more than amply demonstrate the inherent robustness of internal process and system. In Lexcel terms, GLD continues to very clearly demonstrate an exceptionally high degree of compliance against the Lexcel Standard.”

Full cost recovery

GLD is primarily funded from the fees charged to its clients for legal services and fee rates are set in accordance with HMT publication - Managing Public Money - and are designed to recover the costs incurred by the department. Financial performance is monitored throughout the year, and on a quarterly basis, the department undertakes a formal exercise to forecast the financial outturn for the year. GLD's commitment to clients is to ensure that they benefit from better than budgeted financial performance and if the forecasting exercise at the end of quarter two predicts a significant surplus, the department evaluates the underlying reasons, considers the financial risks for the remainder of the year and assesses whether a fee reduction should be made in-year.

Full cost recovery was achieved in 2022-23 and after rebates of £8.0m (2021-22 £3.8m), a surplus of £10.7m was generated (2021-22: £12.0m). The introduction of capability based pay was factored into GLD fees for 2022-23. The relatively large surplus primarily reflects that, following ministerial agreement, its introduction would be deferred until 2023-24. In setting fees and budgets for the year, key factors include the level of litigation demand, the level of staff turnover, the level of investment required to deliver departmental objectives and the use of third parties to support the department's legal work. In determining these and other financial factors, GLD takes account of the factors underlying the previous years financial performance and the likelihood of them reoccurring. GLD also continually reviews and refine fee setting and forecasting processes to minimise the level of surplus that may arise.

Significant events during the financial year

Government Legal Department

2022-23 was another demanding year, seeing GLD squarely at the heart of government business, providing outstanding legal support across government priorities including helping to design sanctions packages in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through to working on supporting the most vulnerable members of society in work on the energy crisis. Alongside this GLD worked on an extensive programme of policies and legislation, helping ministers and departments to deliver their priorities for citizens.

GLD also led an ambitious agenda to meet its strategic outcomes. The department launched a new Overall Plan to strengthen corporate planning and performance systems and undertook a review of governance to ensure that the system balanced the quality and openness of decision-making that GLD needs to achieve its strategic ambitions, with a desire for greater empowerment and a heightened emphasis on delivery and accountability throughout the department.

GLD continued to invest further in key areas like resourcing, reward and recognition frameworks, and strengthened relationships with ministers and departments and partnerships with private sector panel firms.

GLD developed its work towards becoming a national organisation, further increasing staff numbers outside London in existing offices in Leeds and Bristol, and announced a new office location for Salford. The department also launched a refreshed Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, setting new and ambitious goals including in the area of Social Mobility which is vital in ensuring that GLD and the wider Civil Service best represent and serve our society.

By way of case studies and commentary, the GLD Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 provides substantial details of significant events and achievements. It is available at: www.gov.uk/gld.

Attorney General’s Office

This year the Attorney built on strengthening and modernising the GLD framework agreement, which has resulted in a change to governance with the Director General being appointed a delegated accounting officer; discussions are ongoing to agree an MOU that will underpin the appointment. As a result, the AGO has conducted a review of its finance processes against HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidance and has taken steps to ensure compliance and put assurance processes in place. The AGO has also commissioned the Government Internal Audit Agency to complete assurance mapping and is in the process of taking forward their recommendations.

The AGO Executive Board commissioned an internal risk maturity assessment to gauge its approach to managing risks and identify steps to enhance a well-managed risk and assurance culture within the AGO. The assessment has been concluded and the results are undergoing discussion at Executive Board.

Framework agreements with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) are also in the process of being modernised. The Attorney General ensured governance practice is embedded through chairing Ministerial Strategic Boards, providing support and oversight.

The AGO provided high quality support across all the Law Officers’ core functions. The Law Officers accomplished a wide variety of Parliamentary business in both Houses, including departmental oral questions every six weeks. Working closely with the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, supporting the Law Officers’ role in the Parliamentary Business and Legislation (PBL) Committee, and working with departments to find solutions to legal difficulties in proposed legislation. In 2022 the AGO responded to 160 parliamentary questions, answering 100% within the deadline; 288 MP letters, answering 100% within the deadline; and 796 Cabinet write rounds.

The AGO's public interest work continues to grow and the AGO have seen referrals for unduly lenient sentence cases increase from 991 in 2021 to 1,150 offenders in 2022. Of those cases 702 were within scope of the scheme, and requiring personal consideration by a Law Officer, and 131 were referred by a Law Officer to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal agreed the sentence was unduly lenient in 57% of these cases, with a further 35% of the cases referred awaiting decisions.

Throughout the course of 2022 the AGO has run 26 recruitment campaigns and successfully onboarded 26 new people into the AGO, each new starter has received an induction pack, an induction event which are held monthly and introductory conversations with the Director General and Director.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

Andrew Cayley CMG KC is the current Chief Inspector having been appointed by the Attorney General on 1st April 2021.

As with 2021-22 HMCPSI delivered a full programme of inspection and published eight reports.

• Area Inspection Programme – CPS Yorkshire & Humberside (published April 2022)

• Area Inspection Programme – CPS Wessex (published April 2022)

• Area Inspection Programme - CPS London North (published May 2022)

• Area Inspection Programme – CPS South West (published August 2022)

• Area Inspection Programme – CPS Mersey Cheshire (published September 2022)

• Area Inspection Programme – CPS East Midlands (published October 2022)

• Area Inspection Programme – CPS North West (published October 2022)

• Area Inspection Programme – Thames & Chiltern (published November 2022)

• Domestic Abuse Inspection report (published March 2023).

In partnership with the Criminal Justice System inspectorates, HMCPSI jointly published a report on The Impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the Criminal Justice System - A progress report (published May 2022).

During the year HMCPSI has also offered assistance to the Albanian High Judicial Inspectorate sharing experience and knowledge to assist them in setting up their programme of inspection.

HMCPSI also re-joined the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) and attended the conference in Tbilisi.

Future Development

Government Legal Department

As GLD approaches the final year of its 2019-2024 strategy, the department will focus in on becoming a national GLD that provides rewarding careers for all in an environment that is fit for the future.

Further details about these plans will be set out in GLD's 2023-24 Business Plan on gov.uk.

Attorney General’s Office

The AGO is exploring the possibility of increased ministerial oversight to add a layer of assurance to its current Executive Board structure. The AGO is refining and improving the content and usability of its management information with the use of automated dashboards providing Executive Board with data and analysis of performance across a wide range of professional disciplines within the office.

Further details will be contained in the AGO 2023-24 Business Plan, which will be available at: www.gov.uk/ago.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

HMCPSI will continue to provide evidence for others to hold the CPS and SFO to account in order to encourage improvement in the performance of the prosecution services. It will work with the inspected agencies to identify and promote good practice and continue to undertake a robust follow-up process.

Further details are shown in HMCPSI’s 2023-24 Business Plan, to be available at: www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmcpsi.

Sustainability Performance

All departments are required to participate actively in developing action plans to achieve and report their performance against the ‘Greening Government Commitments’ (GGC).

A summary of the department’s performance and action taken in 2022-23 to improve sustainability is provided in the Sustainability Report at Annex A (page 86).

Complaints to the Parliamentary Ombudsman

There was one complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman regarding GLD but it was not upheld. There were no complaints in respect of the AGO or HMCPSI.

Performance in responding to correspondence from the public

GLD does not normally receive correspondence from members of the public since it conducts the majority of its business with other government departments. When it does receive such correspondence, it normally relates to the way cases have been handled or people feeling they were treated unfairly. GLD received 136 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, responding to 81% within the statutory deadline.

The AGO received 240 FOI requests in 2022-23, 94% responded to within the statutory deadline.

HMCPSI does not normally receive correspondence from members of the public as its business relates entirely to the inspection of the CPS and SFO. Any letters received tend to be complaints about interaction with the Criminal Justice System and are rarely matters where HMCPSI can intervene or assist. In these circumstances HMCPSI signposts to those who complain where they can go for assistance. HMCPSI received 15 FOI requests, and they were all dealt within the statutory deadline.

Financial Results

In delivering its wide range of legal services to its clients, legal and strategic policy advice and support to the Law Officers, and inspection and assessment of prosecution services, the department spent £306.6m (2021-22: £287.9m). After taking into account income of £308.5m (2021-22: £291.1m), the net resource requirement for 2022-23 was net income of £2.0m (2021-22: £3.2m), £12.8m less than the sum approved by Parliament in the 2022-23 Supplementary Estimate for HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor.

Total operating income was £308.5m (2021-22: £291.1m). GLD's income from legal fees and charges to clients increased this year to reflect demand for legal services - £256.0m (2021-22: £243.3m). Other income streams were: £44.3m from the recovery of disbursements incurred in providing legal services to clients (2021-22: £39.9m); £4.7m was recovered from the Crown’s Nominee (2021-22: £4.9m) and other income of £3.5m including subscription services and the recovery of costs of Information Technology services provided to the Government Actuary's Department was received (2021-22: £3.1m).

GLD is primarily funded from the fees charged to clients for its legal services. GLD fee rates are set in accordance with HMT publication - Managing Public Money - and are designed to recover the costs incurred by the department. Financial performance is monitored throughout the year, and on a quarterly basis, GLD undertakes a formal exercise to forecast the financial outturn for the year. GLD's commitment to its clients is to ensure that they benefit from better than budgeted financial performance and if the forecasting exercise at the end of quarter two predicts a significant surplus, GLD evaluates the underlying reasons, consider the financial risks for the remainder of the year and assess whether a fee reduction should be made in-year.

Full cost recovery was achieved by GLD and after rebates of £8.0m (2021-22: £3.8m), a surplus of £10.7m was generated (2021-22: £12m). The introduction of capability based pay was factored into GLD fees for 2022-23. The relatively large surplus primarily reflects that, following ministerial agreement, its introduction would be deferred until 2023-24.

Taxpayers' Equity is £19m at 31 March 2023 comprising total assets of £96m (non-current assets of £36m, trade and other receivables of £47m, and cash of £12m); and current and non-current liabilities of £77m (trade and other payables and provisions). Further details are in the Notes to the Accounts.

PES (2021) 03 requires departments to include an annex disaggregating the financial results and staff numbers by entities within the consolidation boundary. These requirements have been met through the Staff report (page 47) and Note 2 to the financial statements.

Comparison of Estimate and Outturn

GLD underspent by £11.1m against its voted funding of £0.8m, generating an overall surplus against full cost recovery of £10.4m. This surplus was generated from lower than anticipated spending on staff costs, corporate costs and external legal support.

The AGO underspent against budget by £0.4m, mainly on account of lower staff and administration costs.

HMCPSI underspent against budget by £0.3m, mainly on account of lower staff costs.

The department underspent its net cash requirement by £12.5m, due to movements in working capital.

The capital budget was underspent by £1.4m mainly due to lower than budgeted spend on the purchase of leased assets accounted for as capital in accordance with international accounting standards.

Reconciliation of Resource Expenditure between Estimates, Accounts and Budgets

£m	2022-23	2021-22
Net Resource Outturn (Estimates)	(2.0)	(3.2)
Net Operating (Income) / Expenditure (Accounts)	(2.0)	(3.2)
Resource Budget Outturn (Budget)	(2.0)	(3.2)
Of which
Departmental Expenditure Limits	(2.3)	(2.8)
Annually Managed Expenditure	0.3	(0.4)

Susanna McGibbon,
Accounting Officer
1 June 2023

Accountability Report

The Accountability Report includes a corporate governance report, a remuneration and staff report and a parliamentary accountability and audit report. These sections reflect financial reporting and parliamentary accountability reporting requirements.

Corporate Governance Report

Directors’ Report

Directors

The Governance Statement on page 21 includes the ministerial titles and names of ministers who had responsibility for the department for the year, the name of the permanent head of the department and the composition of the GLD Board. Management matters in the AGO are the responsibility of the Director General and HMCPSI is led by the Chief Inspector, who also fulfils the function of Chief Executive.

Register of interests

No directorships or other significant interests, which may have caused a conflict with their management responsibilities, were held by any Board Members. Note 16 to the Accounts confirms that no members of the Board, including Non-Executive Directors, has any related party interests.

Personal data related incidents

All government departments are required to publish information about any serious personal data related incidents, which have to be reported to the Information Commissioner (ICO). There were no incidents reported for 2022-23.

Statement on Information Risk

Assurance on information handling is provided by the Senior Information Risk Owner, Nick Price CBE, Operations Director & Senior Security Advisor, supported by the Security Working Group led by the Security Adviser, Head of Cyber Security Assurance and Data Protection Officer. GLD Directors provide an annual end of year Assurance Report highlighting any risks that crystallised during the year. These assurances have been reviewed by the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee. As part of the business planning process, the Permanent Secretary/Chief Executive holds Panel Reviews with all Executive Team members to challenge their bids for resources.

GLD holds personal data relating to GLD employees and keeps data owned by other government departments in relation to its role as the principal legal adviser to government. It continues to work with delivery partners and third parties to manage effectively the risk of any loss of personal data held by these other bodies. There were no personal data incidents requiring notification to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

During 2022-23, the framework for handling data and to provide assurance over the management of information held within GLD has included but not limited to:

• maintaining oversight of data handling practices in accordance with current departmental policies;

• reviewing current guidance and awareness updates;

• promoting best practice within GLD, including the mandatory completion by all staff of the Civil Service Learning – 'Security and Data Protection Training' course and two newly revised General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) related e-learning courses;

• ongoing review of information assets and their associated risks, including assessments of the third party delivery chain, and the incorporation of information risks within the risk management policy and processes; and

• maintaining certification against the ISO 27001:3013 information security standard.

The department also adheres to Cabinet Office Minimum Security Standards relating to cyber security, personnel security, physical security and incident management. The department has also maintained its Cyber Essentials Plus certification, in support of the current Lexcel standard.

Audit

The National Audit Office (NAO) on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General audits HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Accounts.

The C&AG also audit the Crown’s Nominee Accounts administered by the Bona Vacantia Division of the department.

The auditors provide no further assurance or other advisory services.

Remuneration to external auditors for non audit work

GLD, the AGO and HMCPSI did not pay any remuneration to the NAO for non-audit work. The notional audit fee for the departmental audit was £96k (2021-22: £85k).

Statement of Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities

Under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, HMT has directed HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor to prepare, for each financial year, Accounts detailing the resources acquired, held or disposed of during the year and the use of resources by the department during the year. The Accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and must give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the department and of its income and expenditure, financial position and cash flows for the financial year.

In preparing the Accounts, the Principal Accounting Officer is required to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual and in particular to:

• observe the Accounts Direction issued by HMT, including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements and apply suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis;

• make judgments and estimates on a reasonable basis;

• state whether applicable accounting standards as set out in the Government Financial Reporting Manual have been followed and disclose and explain any material departures in the Accounts;

• prepare the Accounts on a going concern basis; and

• confirm that the Annual Report and Accounts as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable and take personal responsibility for the Annual Report and Accounts and the judgments required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable.

HMT has appointed the permanent head of the department as Principal Accounting Officer of the department.

In addition, the Principal Accounting Officer has appointed HM Chief Inspector, Andrew Cayley CMG KC, as Accounting Officer for HMCPSI, to be accountable for that part of the department’s Accounts relating to HMCPSI and Douglas Wilson OBE, Director General of the AGO, as Accounting Officer for AGO, to be accountable for that part of the department's Accounts relating to AGO. These appointments do not detract from the head of department’s overall responsibility as Accounting Officer for the department’s accounts.

The responsibilities of an Accounting Officer, including responsibility for the propriety and regularity of the public finances for which the Accounting Officer is answerable, for keeping proper records and for safeguarding the department’s assets, are set out in Managing Public Money, published by HMT.

As Accounting Officer, I have taken all the steps that I ought to have taken to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the department’s auditors are aware of that information. As far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware.

Governance Statement

The Office of the Solicitor for the affairs of His Majesty’s Treasury (the Treasury Solicitor) was incorporated as a corporation sole by the Treasury Solicitor Act 1876.

The Government Legal Department (GLD) is a non-ministerial department and was established as an Executive Agency on 1 April 1996. Ministerial oversight and accountability to Parliament lies with the Attorney General. HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor leads the department, in the roles of Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive.

The Treasury Solicitor is accountable to the Attorney General for the running of GLD; and as Chief Legal Adviser to government, the Attorney has a close interest in the legal advice and legal services being provided to government by GLD and the wider Government Legal Profession. An interim Framework Agreement governs the relationship between GLD and Law Officers and the Attorney General’s Office.

Ministers

The ministers who had responsibility for the department during the year were:

• The Rt Hon Victoria Prentis KC, MP, Attorney General from 25 October 2022

• The Rt Hon Michael Ellis KC, MP, Attorney General from 6 September 2022 until 25 October 2022

• The Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC, MP, Attorney General until 6 September 2022

• Michael Tomlinson KC, MP, Solicitor General from 7 September 2022

• Edward Timpson CBE KC, MP, Solicitor General from 7 July 2022 until 7 September 2022

• Alex Chalk KC, MP, Solicitor General until 5 July 2022

Accounting Officer System Statement

The Accounting Officer of HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor, is personally responsible for safeguarding the public funds for which they have been given charge under the name of the HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Estimate. This includes responsibility for GLD, AGO and HMCPSI. To help them ensure they are fulfilling their responsibilities as an Accounting Officer, this Governance Statement also describes the accountability system in place, and the relationship between GLD, the AGO and HMCPSI.

To support the Accounting Officer in discharging their responsibilities, there is a framework of delegated authority in place. Management matters in the AGO are the responsibility of the Director General and HMCPSI is led by the Chief Inspector, who also fulfils the function of Chief Executive. The AGO Director General and Chief Inspector both meet regularly with their respective executive teams. The Chief Inspector has been appointed as Accounting Officer for HMCPSI. In accordance with Managing Public Money, this relationship is set out in writing. The Accounting Officer meets regularly with the Director General, AGO and the Chief Inspector HMPCSI and each provides an annual assurance report. The AGO Director General and AGO officials meet the Law Officers regularly to provide high quality legal and strategic policy advice and support. The HMCPSI Chief Inspector meets regularly with the Law Officers to provide assurance on the practices of the CPS and SFO.

The department enters into contracts with third party suppliers in the normal course of business. There are no significant contracts. GLD administers the Attorney General’s Panel Counsel. The Attorney General maintains four panels of junior counsel to undertake civil and EU work for all government departments. There is also a Public International Law Panel to undertake such work on behalf of government. These are in addition to any standing counsel and the First Treasury Counsel, Sir James Eadie KC. There are three London Panels (an A Panel for senior juniors, a B Panel for middle juniors, a C Panel for junior juniors) and a regional panel. The size of each panel is determined by need. All government departments and agencies of government departments must use the Panels.

Working with the Crown Commercial Service, GLD has also reviewed how external legal services are purchased from private sector law firms and has put in a place a General Legal Advice Services Panel, a Financial and Complex Legal Services Panel, a Trade Law Panel and a Rail Legal Services Panel.

GLD Board and Committees

In Autumn 2021, the GLD Board commissioned a review of the department’s governance and decision-making, to ensure that GLD’s governance system balanced the quality and openness of decision-making that GLD needs to achieve its strategic ambitions, with a desire for greater empowerment at committee-level and a heightened emphasis on delivery and accountability.

As an outcome of the 2022 GLD Governance Review, the GLD governance structure underwent changes at the end of the 2022-23 reporting period. Changes are listed below, under each committee heading. An organogram of the previous GLD Governance structure, together with the new organogram for January 2023 onwards, is set out at the end of this section.

GLD Board

Chair: Susanna McGibbon, Permanent Secretary, Treasury Solicitor, and Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of GLD.

The The Board focuses on strategic matters for the department. It supports the Treasury Solicitor in providing leadership of GLD. It sets GLD’s vision and strategic direction. The Committee reviewed its own effectiveness through a Board Effectiveness Evaluation this year; the full report will be sent to the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA). There will also be an internal audit conducted 6 months post implementation of the 2022 Governance Review outcomes.

Changes made during the reporting period
The Board previously met at least 6 times a year, meeting 7 times in 2022-23. In the next reporting year, GLD Board meetings will be quarterly (including two away days).

Shadow Board

Chair: Rotating Chair

The Shadow Board reports into the Board. The Shadow Board is an advisory staff forum, comprised of representatives from a range of divisions/groups, grades, and professions, to scrutinise and contribute to strategic decisions in order to deliver GLD's Strategy. Its specific focus is on ensuring that the GLD strategic outcomes are incorporated into the decisions being made by the Board.

The Shadow Board met 6 times in 2022-23; (4 times ahead of the Board meetings, to discuss and provide feedback on Board papers and their strategies, and twice before Board Away Days). During these meetings, the Shadow Board acted as a feedback mechanism helping to connect the Board with the wider department, across the spectrum of divisions, grades, professions, and the diversity networks, ensuring that views from these areas are reflected in the work being done to support GLD to deliver its Strategy whilst simultaneously enhancing staff engagement.

Changes made during the reporting period
In tandem with the changes made to the frequency of the GLD Board, the Shadow Board will meet on a quarterly basis during the next reporting year.

Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

Chair: Mike Green, Non-Executive Director

The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee reports directly to the Board. The Committee supports the Principal Accounting Officer by monitoring and reviewing the department's risk, control and governance processes, and the associated assurance processes, including external and internal audit.

The Committee meets at least quarterly and met 4 times in 2022-23 with 2 additional meetings to delve into GLD strategic risks to ensure that risks are appropriately managed. The Committee reviewed its own effectiveness as well as the effectiveness of the internal and external audit functions. In addition, the Committee oversaw the audit process and advised the Accounting Officer (AO) on three sets of accounts: Agency accounts, departmental accounts, and the Crown’s Nominee account for 2021-22, including the External Auditors’ opinion. The Committee was satisfied with the quality of the external auditors’ work and their approach to their responsibilities.

The Committee also considered the findings contained in the external auditor’s management letters and reports prepared by the Head of Internal Audit, based on an Internal Audit Plan agreed in advance by the Committee, and monitored the implementation of internal audit recommendations. During the financial year, the Committee reviewed GLD’s position on physical & cyber security, fraud, and whistleblowing.

Changes made during the reporting period
Douglas Wilson (Director General of the Attorney-General’s Office) was designated Accounting Officer for the Attorney General’s Office on 26 October 2022, on behalf of Susanna McGibbon as Principal Accounting Officer. This was a result of a recommendation from the GLD Review undertaken by the Attorney General’s Office in 2021.

Executive Committee

Chair: Susanna McGibbon, Permanent Secretary, Treasury Solicitor, and Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of GLD

The Executive Committee consists of Executive Team Members (and Lee John-Charles, a co-opted member, up until December 2022 when he retired). It provides the executive leadership of GLD, overseeing the delivery of the department’s core service delivery and performance.

The Committee met 16 times in 2022-23 (12 formal, planned meetings and 4 exceptional meetings; the topics for the latter were: Civil Service 2025, the Pay Business Case and Performance Report, and the Pay Business Case, respectively).

Changes made during the reporting period
The Executive Committee previously met every two weeks; however, this was changed to once a month in Autumn 2022, following recommendations from the 2022 Governance Review.

Until January 2023, the Executive Committee had 3 sub-Committees which provided assurance, challenge and support to the strategic outcomes and key priorities for GLD. These were the Legal Delivery Committee, Operations Committee, and the People Committee.

Post January 2023, a more empowered structure reflecting GLD’s ambitions, agreed by the Executive Committee, was implemented as follows:

1. The dissolution of the Operations Committee. The role and scope of work that was undertaken by this committee has been being redistributed across the governance spectrum.

2. The dissolution, redistribution and expansion of the role and scope the Legal Delivery Committee. This has been replaced by two newly created Committees; a Legal Quality and Innovation Committee, and a Clients and External Relations Committee.

3. The establishment of an Investment and Portfolio Assurance Committee.

Thus, from March 2023, the new sub-Committees that will support the Executive Committee are the Client & External Relations Committee, the Legal Quality & Innovation Committee, the People Committee and the Investment & Portfolio Assurance Committee. An organogram of the previous GLD Governance structure, together with the new organogram for January 2023 onwards, is set out at the end of this section.

Operations Committee

Chair: Jessica de Mounteney, Legal Director General, Litigation with Justice and Security

The Operations Committee reported to the Executive Committee. The Committee provided oversight and assurance in relation to the delivery of non-legal priorities, including Corporate Services and Bona Vacantia. The Committee monitored performance and supported the development of strategic priorities within its remit, including the Accommodation and Location Strategy, the Digital and Technology Strategy, and the Management Information Strategy.

The Committee met 3 times in 2022-23 in addition to dealing with a significant number of papers by correspondence over the course of the year. The members undertook a variety of work, including a deep dive into GLD ICT and endorsed the move to adopt the cross UK government Digital Data and Technology Profession Framework and Approach, a natural outcome of which would be the replacement of current interim resource with full time civil servants who would provide more continuity and accountability to the department. The Committee also endorsed work being undertaken to clarify principles and improve systems for the purpose of greater resilience and sustainability in the ICT space. This is in furtherance of GLD’s ambition to transition to a unified IT system.

Under the guidance of GLD’s Accommodation and Location Strategy and in conjunction with the department’s Future Ways of Working initiative, the Committee endorsed proposals for the redesign of the department’s office at 102 Petty France, London. The department will provide appropriate, high quality, accommodation in the right places as well as a work environment that promotes greater collaboration and interaction between staff.

Changes made during the reporting period
The Operations Committee was formally dissolved at its final meeting in December 2022. A lessons learnt exercise took place, and a summary of the key points was tabled at an Executive Committee meeting for consideration. Members reflected that they valued the opportunity to get involved with the committee, especially the insights into the Corporate Services and Operations spaces that were afforded to them as a result. Lessons learnt about the importance of clear remits and responsibilities for committees (and their terms of reference) was fed back, as well as committee empowerment within the structure. The outcomes of the exercise were considered during the implementation and set up phase for the new committees. Diversity of voice and of thought in the new structure will continue to be a focus, as well as a more empowered culture and delivery-focused approach in the department.

Legal Delivery Committee

Chair: Elizabeth Hambley, Legal Director General, Commercial with Trade and International

The Legal Delivery Committee reported to the Executive Committee. The Committee provided oversight and assurance in relation to the quality and efficiency of the legal work undertaken by GLD and oversaw relationships with clients. The Committee also oversaw arrangements for the delivery of external legal services, relationships with the legal professional bodies and supported the development of strategic priorities for activities in these areas.

The Committee met 6 times in 2022-23, with 2 additional meetings to refine and review the bi-annual reports provided to it. The Committee specifically focused on matters including:

• Legal Delivery Excellence: Launched the Attorney General’s guidance on legal risk and implemented training, implemented an enhanced model for GLD quality assurance alongside the existing Lexcel accreditation for Litigation, and further developed GLD’s 15 legal Centres of Excellence. The Committee provided oversight for a new GLD legal learning framework, commissioned a review of knowledge sharing across the Government Legal Profession, and provided oversight for the launch of the eKM knowledge sharing system and the development of a cohesive knowledge and learning systems roadmap.

• Client Relationships: Implemented the co-ordination and quality assurance of GLD’s law firm’s panels and panel counsel and delivered GLD’s annual client satisfaction survey and other client feedback mechanisms.

Changes made during the reporting period
The Committee was dissolved, and replaced by two newly created legal committees, the Client & External Relations Committee, and the Legal Quality and Innovation Committee. The final Legal Delivery Committee meeting took place in January 2023.

Client & External Relations Committee

Chair: Elizabeth Hambley, Legal Director General, Commercial with Trade and International

The Client and External Relations Committee reports directly to the Executive Committee. The Committee is one of the two Committees which was established following recommendations from the 2022 Governance Review.

The Committee will have a greater focus on client relationships, allowing for a more thorough and efficient procurement of legal services. This Committee will provide oversight and assurance for the fostering of relationships within the Government Legal Profession, supporting the delivery of the Business Plan. Additionally, the Committee will develop client care initiatives, which will help to monitor the quality of service provided to ensure effective engagement with the legal professional and regulatory bodies.

The Committee will meet quarterly (commencing from March 2023).

Changes made during the reporting period
The committee was established in March 2023.

Legal Quality & Innovation Committee

Chair: Jessica de Mounteney, Legal Director General, Litigation with Justice and Security (Until April 2023)

Incoming Legal Director General, Caroline Croft (from June 2023)

The Legal Quality & Innovation Committee reports directly to the Executive Committee. The Committee is one of the two Committees which was established following recommendations from the 2022 Governance Review.

The Committee will provide strategic direction, oversight, and assurance for: the quality and effectiveness of GLD’s legal work; the design, delivery and effectiveness of GLD’s legal knowledge resources, legal training and legal induction; quality accreditation and recognition processes and legal quality and innovation priorities in GLD’s Business Plans.

The Committee will meet quarterly (commencing April 2023).

Changes made during the reporting period
The committee was established in April 2023.

People Committee

Chair: Mel Nebhrajani CB, Legal Director General, Employment with Economic Recovery and UK Governance

The People Committee reports directly to the Executive Committee. The Committee exercises strategic oversight of the People Strategy and the underpinning strategies within its remit, including the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. The Committee also reviews GLD’s key workforce risks, and the action being taken to address them, particularly around legal resourcing, capacity, capability, and pay and reward.

Members have a role in certifying that GLD promotes health and wellbeing activities, supports activities to build leadership amongst staff, and actively reviews the skills and capabilities needed to deliver outstanding legal and corporate services. This includes driving improvements in response to the People Survey.

The People Committee met 7 times in the financial year 2022-23. Over the past year, the Committee has overseen an array of work, including GLD’s People Strategy and the Outreach Strategy. Members also looked at ‘Leadership the GLD Way,’ intending to improve the capacity and capability at all levels within GLD. Furthermore, members considered the effectiveness of the ranges of GLD’s resourcing approaches, including Agile resourcing. The Committee also discussed the progress of the pay business case, as well as the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy refresh.

The People Committee also considers the bi-annual Health and Wellbeing Report to monitor and identify any risks related to activities within the Committee’s remit.

Changes made during the reporting period
The People Committee was due to meet 6 times per year, actually meeting 7 times in the financial year 2022-23. In the next reporting year, meetings will be quarterly.

Investment and Portfolio Assurance Committee

Chair: Jon Fundrey, Finance, Operations and Digital Director

The Investment and Portfolio Assurance Committee is a newly established Committee following recommendations from the 2022 Governance Review, which will report to the Executive Committee. The Committee will consider investment decisions on behalf of the Executive Committee, providing assurance that those investments deliver value for money, meet regularity and propriety considerations and are affordable and sustainable. The Committee will also provide oversight of GLD Portfolio projects from inception through to implementation, ensuring they remain strategically aligned, affordable and deliverable. The Portfolio Delivery Group is a sub-committee of the Investment and Portfolio Assurance Committee.

The Committee will meet quarterly, or more frequently if the project pipeline requires.

Changes made during the reporting period
The committee was established in April 2023.

Talent and Succession Committee

Chair: Catherine Berney, Non-Executive Director

The Talent and Succession Committee provides the GLD Board with assurance on senior executive appointments within the department. This includes succession planning, talent management and consideration of diversity and inclusion throughout, to meet the current and future needs and priorities of GLD.

The Committee met 3 times in 2022-23, with one interim meeting in between. The meetings predominantly comprised of identifying the future leadership requirements of GLD and scrutinising the talent and development processes. The Talent and Succession Committee meets quarterly, with interim SCS Resourcing and Development meetings, as required.

SCS Pay Committee

Chair: Catherine Berney, Non-Executive Director

The SCS Pay Committee sets the pay strategy each year for SCS members of staff, ensuring it reflects the needs and priorities of the department. When setting the strategy, the Committee takes account of all relevant guidance and then oversees the process, to ensure recommendations are moderated and that awards are consistent and fair across the SCS.

The Committee met once in 2022-23 and the meeting predominately comprised of ensuring the strategy is transparent, easily understood and shared with SCS members. The SCS Pay Committee usually meets 2-3 times a year.

No changes have been made during the reporting period.

Committee Membership

Membership of each Committee is drawn from GLD’s Legal Director cadre, and each has one of the Non- Executive Directors as a member (Mike Green, Catherine Berney, and Erica Handling).

GLD Board Members:

Membership of the GLD Board as at 31 March 2023 was as follows:

Executive members:

Susanna McGibbon - Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive
Jessica de Mounteney - Legal Director General, Litigation with Justice and Security
Elizabeth Hambley - Legal Director General, Commercial with Trade and International
Mel Nebhrajani CB - Legal Director General, Employment with Economic Recovery and UK Governance
Damian Paterson - Strategy, People and Culture Director
Jon Fundrey - Finance, Operations and Digital Director

Caroline Croft joins the Board as Legal Director General in June 2023, following the departure of Jessica de Mounteney. Caroline Croft was appointed Legal Director General for Employment with Economic Recovery and UK Governance with Mel Nebhrajani CB moving to the Legal Director General post for Litigation with Justice and Security.

Ex-officio member:

Douglas Wilson OBE - Director General, AGO

Previous members:

Lee John-Charles CBE - Deputy Legal Director, Litigation Group (Co-opted member until December 2022)

Non-Executive members:

Catherine Berney took up her appointment as Strategy, People and Culture Non-Executive Director (NED) on 15 October 2018 and is Chair of both the SCS Pay and Talent & Succession committees. Catherine is a qualified organisational psychologist and solicitor, with a background in private practice and international finance. She has held a previous NED role for Arts Inform, an organisation that seeks to build links between the creative and cultural industries and the London schools’ system, in addition to chairing a local community association. Catherine leads a consultancy firm and brings considerable experience to GLD in leadership, strategic direction, communications, and talent development. Catherine departed GLD as a Non-Executive Director at the end of April 2023; succession planning is underway.

Erica Handling joined on 29 October 2018 as Non-Executive Director for Legal Quality. Erica brings experience and expertise to GLD having worked as head of large legal departments in private practice and in-house. Her previous roles have included General Counsel for Europe at BlackRock and Barclays Investment Bank and Head of Securities and Structured Finance at Ashurst LLP. Erica combines her role at GLD with working as an executive coach and being a non-executive director on the Board of Petershill Partners plc (a listed company investing in private equity partnerships, managed by Goldman Sachs) and a trustee and chair of charities with a focus on women and/or criminal justice, including Spark Inside, St Giles Trust and previously Working Chance. Erica’s term as a Non-Executive Director is due to end in October 2023.

Mike Green joined in January 2022 and is Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee. Mike is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a graduate of the London School of Economics. He qualified as a chartered accountant with what is now KPMG and spent 11 years with the audit practice before a 20-year career in Commercial Television. Currently Mike is a Director, Audit Committee Chair and a member of the Service Quality Committee at Anchor Hanover, a housing association specialising in older people’s housing and operating over 100 care homes. Mike also spent 10 years as a non-executive director at an NHS Foundation Trust.

GLD Board attendance

The GLD Board met 7 times between April 2022 and March 2023, with attendance as follows:

Executive Members	Eligible to attend	Attended (to end March)
Susanna McGibbon	6	6
Jessica de Mounteney	6	5
Mel Nebhrajani CB	6	6
Elizabeth Hambley	6	6
Damian Paterson	6	6
Jon Fundrey	6	5
Ex-Officio Member - Douglas Wilson OBE	6	4
Co-opted Member -*Lee John-Charles CBE (Until December 2022)	5	4

Non-Executive Members	Eligible to attend	Attended (to end March)
Catherine Berney	6	6
Erica Handling	6	6
Mike Green	6	6

*The GLD Board met 7 times between April 2022 and March 2023. However, there is no recorded attendance for the GLD Board meeting dated 26 May 2022. The table of attendance will only reflect meetings with recorded attendance.

**Lee John-Charles CBE (Deputy Legal Director, Litigation Group) was co-opted onto the Board in response to the increased nationwide and global focus on issues around ethnic minority representation and social justice, occasioned by a number of significant newsworthy events during the course of 2020. His appointment to the Board was an interim measure and ended in December 2022.

The Board's work covers the 5 main areas expected by the Corporate Governance in Central Government Departments: Code of Good Practice:

• Strategy – setting the vision;

• Commercial focus – scrutinising the allocation of resources to achieve plans; ensuring controls are in place to manage risk;

• Talented people – the Board has a People Strategy to help ensure that GLD has the capability to deliver and to meet current and future needs;

• Results focus – the Board agrees the annual business plan and monitors and manages performance against the plan; and

• Management information – the Board receives a bi-monthly dashboard containing clear, consistent and comparable performance information.

The GLD Board’s performance

GLD adheres to centrally set standards of good governance practice for government departmental boards and follows the Board Effectiveness Evaluation process where applicable, recommended in guidance produced by the Cabinet Office.

The Committee reviewed its own effectiveness through a Board Effectiveness Evaluation (BEE) this year with the key outcomes focusing on refreshing the Board Terms of Reference and the Board Operating Framework (in line with the refreshed governance structure); clarifying and strengthening roles and responsibilities and the relationships between committees; looking at the composition of the Board and continuing efforts on diversity and inclusion; implementing a more effective risk and performance management system, focusing on data and its presentation (this includes reporting and tracking risks); improving flows of information, papers and presentations; and finally coaching, induction and training on both the Board and committees. Many of the areas identified for improvement in the report were picked up as part of continuous improvement and/or the 2022 Governance Review; and as a result, work is already underway to help GLD to meet its strategic aims. The full report including annexes and raw data will be sent to the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA). There will be an internal audit conducted 6 months post implementation of the 2022 Governance Review outcomes.

GLD's Compliance with the Corporate Governance in Central Government Departments: Code of Good Practice:

The Corporate Governance in Central Government Departments: Code of Good Practice applies primarily to ministerial departments. This means that the key provisions relating to the composition of boards do not apply to GLD; specifically the involvement of ministers and the requirement to have roughly equal numbers of ministers, senior civil servants, and Non-Executive Directors.

The Governance Model

An organogram of the previous GLD Governance structure, together with the new organogram for January 2023 onwards, is set out below.

Governance structure until January 2023

Governance structure from January 2023 onwards

Management of interests and Business Appointments

GLD has a policy, published in its Staff Handbook, on outside activities and employment. The general principles are that official time must not be spent on any outside activity without the approval of the Head of Division. Individuals must not engage in any outside activity, which would in any way tend to impair their effectiveness in their official duties or be inconsistent with their position as civil servants, or as members of GLD.

No member of staff may carry out private legal work except, and subject to permission of the Treasury Solicitor, in relation to non-contentious family matters, or pro-bono work.

Individuals must seek permission from the Head of HR, via a senior manager in their business area to ensure there is no risk in respect of conflict of interest with, or potential damage to the credibility of GLD before:

• taking any job or position, which might affect their official work directly or indirectly; or

• undertaking any outside work involving official information; or

• undertaking any work involving payment by another government department or agency on their own account.

Where permission is granted the relevant documentation is filed in the individual’s personnel folder.

There are strict rules in place for those responsible for procurement or management of contracts and on an annual basis all Directors are asked to complete a Declaration of Related Party Interests.

GLD also has a policy on Business interests and shareholdings, also published in the Staff Handbook. This states that there is no objection to civil servants investing in shareholdings unless the nature of their work is such as to require constraints on this. Individuals must not be involved in any work, which could affect the value of their private investments, or the value of those on which they give advice to others; nor must staff use information acquired in the course of their work to advance their private financial interests or those of others.

Individuals must declare to the Finance, Operations and Digital Director any business interests or shareholdings (including directorships) which they or members of their immediate family (spouse/partner and children) hold - to the extent to which they are aware of them - which they would be able to further as a result of their official position. They must comply with any subsequent instructions from the Finance, Operations and Digital Director regarding the retention, disposal or management of such holdings.

In line with Cabinet Office guidance, GLD will ensure that:

• All senior civil servants are required to routinely declare any relevant interests to the Permanent Secretary. This will include providing a ‘nil return’ should they have no relevant outside interests.

• Senior civil servants continue to declare any outside interests on appointment, or if their circumstances change, in real time.

• These returns are scrutinised within GLD by the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, with assurance of this process set out in the Annual Report and Accounts, and a return is provided to the Cabinet Office, providing assurance that all outside interests are being managed appropriately.

• As part of or alongside the Annual Report and Accounts GLD will publish a register of relevant interests for all members of the Departmental Board, including senior civil servants.

• When a civil servant is appointed, as part of the recruitment process the hiring manager is satisfied they can comply with the requirements of the Civil Service Code. The individual must ensure that any interests they do have are compliant with their obligations as a civil servant. If their employer considers there is any real or perceived conflict from their outside interests, the individual must resolve that conflict - for example, by giving up any outside employment

• After a civil servant is appointed, they declare relevant private interests in real time to their line manager and, if necessary, senior management. They will be required to comply with any instructions from GLD relating to those interests. They will also be required to seek permission before taking up any outside engagement which might affect their work.

Special Advisers

In line with the current Declaration of Interests policy for Special Advisers, the Special Advisers to the Attorney General are asked to declare any relevant interests or confirm they do not consider they have any relevant interests. The Director General of the Attorney General’s Office considers the returns provided and will publish any relevant interests.

Business Appointments

The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee monitor compliance with the Business Appointment rules, receiving an Annual Report from Human Resources. In compliance with Business Appointment rules, the department is transparent in the advice given to individual applications for senior staff, including special advisers. A summary of advice given is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ago-gld-and-hmcpsi-business-appointment-rules.

Risk Management in GLD

Risk management is carried out in accordance with HM Treasury Risk Management guidance – “The Orange Book”.

The ARAC provides a challenge function to the department’s risk management arrangements, including deep dive reviews, internal audit reviews and the assurance of processes.

Risk management is embedded at every level in the department by encouraging empowerment and delegation so that risks can be managed proactively by those with the local knowledge and experience, and who are held accountable for the effective management of those risks.

The process is to identify and evaluate a risk, determine an appropriate response, and actively manage the response to ensure that GLD’s exposure is limited to an acceptable level.

Strategic risks are agreed by the GLD Board and monitored by the ARAC, and each key strategic risk is owned by a Board member. The risks and actions to mitigate them are reported monthly to the Executive Committee, and quarterly to the Board. The strategic risks and the actions to mitigate them are detailed in the GLD business plan.

Risk Profile

GLD’s key strategic risks and mitigating actions which are:

Orange Book Risk Category	Risk Description	Plans and Mitigations
Strategy	We do not have an optimised performance and assurance system to monitor the implementation of our Strategy and supporting sub-strategies.	An overarching Strategic Plan is in place with updates provided to the Executive Committee on a monthly basis. Sub-strategies have been developed and responsibilities have been assigned for agreed actions. The Committees monitor progress on relevant sub-strategies and actions.
Strategy	We do not prepare for significant external events which have the potential to have an adverse impact on the delivery of legal services to our clients or achieving full cost recovery.	We have a highly developed Business Continuity Plan which includes plans for critical systems and operations at a local divisonal level. The plans include an ICT Disaster Recovery Plan and are supported by an Incident Management Team and our remote working capability. In addition we have succession plans for critical roles to ensure our legal service is maintained.
Reputation	We damage the confidence and trust of our clients and/or the judiciary, by not meeting their expectations or delivering on commitments given to them.	We use a multi-aspect approach to managing this risk by ensuring the capability of our staff through appropriate training programmes, the development of general and specialist legal skills, utilisation of legal technologies and have appropriate legal quality assurance processes. In addition we have worked closely with the Attorney General's Office to update the approach to advising on legal risk in government and we have an overall client approach supported by local client care plans to help build and maintain the trust and confidence of clients. To manage demand for our services we have procured external panel firms and panel counsel.
Financial	We do not generate sufficient income to achieve full cost recovery and/or we breach one of our HM Treasury Control Totals.	Each year we undertake a comprehensive planning and budgeting process to determine the fee rates we need to charge to clients. The income, expenditure and activity trends are monitored throughout the year and this enables prompt action to be taken to bring spending in line with HM Treasury Control Totals.
People	We do not attract, recruit and retain diverse and sufficient people to deliver the breadth and quality of legal services required by our clients.	We are working to enhance our workforce planning process including regular meetings with senior management to ensure effective deployment of staff. There is ongoing resourcing activity to improve our recruitment processes and the candidate experience, and we have commissioned an external review of our resourcing approach. We continue to explore the creation of alternative routes to legal qualification via apprenticeships. We are working on the following initiatives to enhance attraction and improve retention: explore ways to improve pay and conditions; leadership work to ensure that managers engage their employees so that they see GLD as a great place to work; ensuring that staff have access to a range of Learning and Development opportunities; and implementing our Diversity and Inclusion Delivery Plan, Health and Wellbeing Action Plan and our Talent and Succession Framework. We are continuing to ensure access to external expertise via external counsel and panel firms.
People	We have insufficient and a non-diverse leadership capability to inspire and empower our people to deliver the required levels of service and/or our strategic aims.	Our Leadership Framework, supported by a programme of learning and development, sets out clear leadership expectations. All managers have leadership objectives and are held to account through the Performance Management Framework. Our recruitment and promotion processes have been reviewed and updated to ensure we create a diverse leadership cadre.
Technology	We fail to provide the appropriate, cost-effective, secure and efficient IT tools on a consistent basis that enable our staff to work efficiently and productively with each other, or our clients across government.	We are developing a Digital and Technology Strategy and are implementing the findings of the Legal Work Activity Analysis, which has informed the technology aspects of our Legal Knowledge, Capability and Innovation Strategy. These strategies are being developed in conjunction with the technology strands of our change programme. We are strengthening our innovation capability and culture and will adhere to our business case approval process to ensure appropriate prioritisation and value for money.
Security	We do not keep pace with emerging threats, or there is a failure of compliance, which results in harm, or sanctions, or has an adverse impact on our ability to deliver legal services to our clients.	We comply with the requirements of our Information Security Management System and meet minimum government security standards. We ensure all staff are appropriately security cleared and communicate securely with counsel and other third parties. In addition all staff complete mandatory annual information security and related training, and assurance is obtained through maintaining various ICT related certifications and accreditations.

The AGO’s strategic risks relate to:

• staff turnover;

• failure to: develop and implement effective knowledge management systems and processes;

• failure to maintain strong professional relationships with key stakeholders in GLD, CPS and SFO leading to a breakdown in trust and collaborative working;

• lack of appropriate processes for managing the budget leading to a lack of control over public money; and

• failure to adhere to security procedures and processes to protect its people, classified or personal information.

The risks which HMCPSI recognised this year related to resources and resilience, financial and information management.

These risks were effectively managed and not considered to have crystallised.

Security and business continuity in GLD

Information is one of the department's main assets and as such GLD is committed to maintaining the appropriate level of Information Security to protect information (including personal information). This level of security is assured by GLD’s adherence to the Government Functional Security Standard (GovS 007: Security).

In addition, GLD maintains ISO 27001 and Cyber Essential Plus Certifications. Cyber resilience is maintained through comprehensive penetration testing, vulnerability management and protective monitoring policies, with IT services on, or connected to the GLD network, being monitored by the Security Incident Event Management (SIEM) appliance.

All staff are required to complete the ‘Security and Data Protection’ and GDPR training, to ensure they are fully aware of their responsibility to keep information secure.

GLD maintains and reviews an Information Security Management System (ISMS), which is supported by relevant and appropriate Policies and Procedures. It also maintains a Security Working Group (SWG), co-Chaired by the Head of Cyber Security and the Head of Physical and Personnel Security, to monitor and manage Security Risks and Issues.

GLD reviews and revises all policies and procedures in relation to Physical and Personnel Security, ensuring that all assets are protected from all threats, whether Insider or otherwise, deliberate or accidental.

GLD maintains a robust command and control structure for the management of business resilience and disaster recovery in order to assure the continued delivery of vital services to clients in the event of disruption. GLD ensures that these processes are relevant and reflect the guiding principles set out in BS65000. It has carried out a review of its business continuity processes and plans in light of new ways of working in a post-Covid environment and the move towards greater diversity in office-based locations. 2023 will focus on testing and exercising these plans and processes to ensure that they are viable and fit for purpose.

Whistleblowing

Responsibility for the operation of an effective whistleblowing policy and process within GLD is vested at Board level in the Director of Strategy, People and Culture (SPC) Damian Paterson. He is supported in this role by two Nominated Officers (with plans to appoint two further individuals). Nominated Officers act as a point of contact for GLD staff, outside their line management chain, for raising concerns. They also offer impartial support and advice to anyone raising a Whistleblowing concern.

Assurance of GLD’s whistleblowing policy and processes is provided by the GLD’s ARAC who review whistleblowing cases, identifying the lessons to be learned from them. The ARAC considers bi-annual reports on whistleblowing, with the Board receiving a verbal report from the Director of SPC annually. In 2022-23 there have been no cases raised under GLD’s Whistleblowing policies and procedures.

GLD is committed to nurturing an environment where staff are aware of how to raise concerns about something they see or experience at work. This includes ensuring they feel able and supported in expressing concerns through the channels available to them, including where an issue may be classed as Whistleblowing. At the start of this reporting period a review was conducted to assess how effectively and confidently staff in GLD are able to raise concerns under the department’s Whistleblowing process. The scope of this review extended to all routes available to staff to raise concerns. The review found that generally GLD has effective routes for staff to raise whistleblowing issues and concerns. This conclusion is supported by GLD’s 2022 People Survey scores with 91% of staff indicating a positive level of awareness of the Civil Service Code and what it means for both their conduct and how to raise concerns under the Code. This is 2% higher than the Civil Service benchmark score, showing that GLD has one of the highest levels of understanding across the Civil Service. However the review did make a number of recommendations for continuous improvement to strengthen GLD’s approach to raising a concern. These were agreed and implemented, for example publishing an updated raising a concern policy and support guidance documents.

AGO and HMCPSI also follow the GLD Whistleblowing policy.

Effectiveness of the risk management and governance framework

Assurance is obtained from a range of sources, including the work of the Internal Auditors. In their Annual Assurance Report, which offers an opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of risk management, control and governance, the Head of Internal Audit gave a moderate level of assurance. In her opinion, some improvements are required to enhance the adequacy and effectiveness of the framework of governance, risk management and control; plans are in place to take these recommendations forward.

Assurance on information handling is provided by the Senior Information Risk Owner, Nick Price CBE, Operations Director & Senior Security Advisor, supported by the Security Team and the work of the Security Advisory Group.

GLD Directors, the Director General of the AGO, and the Chief Inspector, HMCPSI, provide an annual end of year Assurance Report highlighting any risks that crystallised during the year. These assurances have been reviewed by the ARAC.

As part of the business planning process, the Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive holds Panel Reviews with all Executive Team members to challenge their bids for resources. The Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive also holds annual Accountability Reviews with the Director General of the AGO, and the Chief Inspector HMCPSI, to review in year progress against objectives, financial management and the delivery of value for money and to seek assurances on internal control and other governance matters.

At the end of each quarter, GLD conducts a formal forecasting exercise. GLD Directors, the Director General of the AGO, and the Chief Inspector HMCPSI, are asked to review their resourcing priorities and relevant income and expenditure against budget, and to forecast their year-end position. This information enables the Executive Committee and the Board to identify areas of concern and, if necessary, to review and consider the allocation of resources in meeting GLD objectives. From quarter two, it also enables consideration of potential in-year fee reductions and rebates/refunds, where a surplus is forecast, or increases if a deficit is forecast.

External assurance of GLD’s Litigation activities is provided by the Law Society against the Lexcel Standard, and GLD’s information systems are assured against the Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Ltd standard ISO27001.

These processes highlighted no issues of significance to the corporate health or operations of the GLD, AGO or HMCPSI in 2022-23.

Remuneration and Staff Report

Remuneration Report

Service Contracts

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 requires Civil Service appointments to be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. The Recruitment Principles published by the Civil Service Commission specify the circumstances when appointments may be made otherwise.

Unless otherwise stated below, the officials covered by this report hold appointments, which are open-ended. Early termination, other than for misconduct, would result in the individual receiving compensation as set out in the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

Further information about the work of the Civil Service Commission can be found at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/.

Remuneration Policy

The Prime Minister, following independent advice from the Senior Salaries Review Body, sets the remuneration of senior civil servants. The Review Body also advises the Prime Minister, from time to time, on the pay and pensions of Members of Parliament and their allowances; on Peers’ allowances; and on the pay, pensions and allowances of ministers and others whose pay is determined by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.

In reaching its recommendations, the Review Body has regard to the following considerations:

• The need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people to exercise their different responsibilities

• Regional/local variations in labour markets and their effects on the recruitment and retention of staff

• Government policies for improving the public services including the requirement on departments to meet the output targets for the delivery of departmental services

• The funds available to departments as set out in the government’s departmental expenditure limits; and

• The government’s inflation target

The Review Body takes account of the evidence it receives about wider economic considerations and the affordability of its recommendations.

Further information about the work of the Review Body can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-manpower-economics.

Permanent Secretaries are paid within the Permanent Secretaries pay range. The exact position on the pay range is set individually for each Permanent Secretary by the government on the recommendation of the Permanent Secretaries Remuneration Committee (which the government normally expects to accept). The Committee comprises members of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), the Head of the Home Civil Service and the Permanent Secretary of HMT.

Senior Civil Service (SCS) Pay Committee

The function of the SCS Pay Committee is to determine the department’s SCS pay strategy and after performance appraisals have been completed, to assess the relative contribution of the department’s SCS members in achieving the department’s strategic outcomes and key priorities, before determining non-consolidated performance related pay awards, and to make final pay decisions.

The SCS Pay Committee at the relevant time (September 2022) comprised: Catherine Berney – Non Executive Director and Chair, Susanna McGibbon, Jessica De Mounteney, Elizabeth Hambley, Mel Nebhrajani CB and Douglas Wilson OBE, AGO Director General, with Flora Huskisson, HR Director.

Consolidated awards (salary increase)

In 2022-23, 3.0% of the SCS paybill was available for distribution to Group 1 and Group 2 performers. The department was bound by SCS Cabinet Office Practitioner Guidance to award a 2.0% across the board salary increase for eligible staff. An additional 1.0% of the SCS paybill was available to raise staff to the new pay band minima where the across the board 2.0% increase did not bring individual’s pay to the new minimum; and to address pay anomalies subject to the criteria set out in the Practitioner Guidance. It was for individual SCS Pay Committees to determine how to distribute the 1.0%, dependent on demonstration of sustained high performance, increased effectiveness and deepened expertise; and the position in the pay range. The decision of the SCS Pay Committee was to address an overlap between Grade 6 and SCS Pay Band 1 salaries by increasing all eligible Pay Band 1 jobholders to a salary above the Grade 6 maximum.

Non-consolidated performance related pay awards

An end-of-year non-consolidated amount was available for jobholders who were assessed as “Top” performers in the 2021-22 performance year.

In-year non-consolidated awards for performance during 2022-23 were made using the overall budget for non-consolidated SCS payments. The criteria used to award these were:

Level 1 and/or Team Award (within division)	Level 2 (across multiple divisions/government) Can also be awarded for achievement in division where the task was significantly complex
Has developed and led the implementation of an idea and/or (corporate) initiative that has demonstrably achieved a strategic aim(s), across their wider division.	Has developed and led the implementation of an idea and/or (corporate) initiative that has demonstrably achieved a strategic aim(s), across the multiple divisions/government.
Has developed collaboratively across the division and lead the implementation of an idea and/or (corporate) initiative that has demonstrably achieved a strategic aim(s), across the wider division.	Has developed collaboratively across multiple divisions and lead the implementation of an idea and/or (corporate) initiative that has demonstrably achieved a strategic aim(s), across the multiple divisions/ government.
Has demonstrably contributed to the improvement of capability, resilience, wellbeing and performance in their work area.	Has demonstrably contributed to the improvement of capability, resilience, wellbeing and performance across multiple divisions/ government.
Has demonstrably improved diversity, including social mobility, in their work area/division.	Has demonstrably improved diversity, including social mobility, across multiple divisions/government.
Has led a piece of work that has demonstrably secured significant savings or efficiency gains in their work area/division.	Has led a piece of work that has demonstrably secured significant savings or efficiency gains across multiple divisions/ government.
Leading as a subject expert, demonstrably building capability within their division.	Leading as a subject expert, demonstrably building capability with an impact across multiple divisions/government.

Note: SCS jobholders who were awarded both an in-year payment for performance in 2021-22 and end-of-year payment had their total non-consolidated payments for the year capped at the amount for the annual performance award.

Remuneration (including salary) and pension entitlements

The following sections, which have been subject to audit, provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of the ministers and most senior management (i.e. Board members) of the department.

Remuneration (salary, benefits-in-kind and pensions)

Ministers	Salary (£)		Pension Benefits (to nearest £1,000)(1)		Total (to nearest £1,000)
	2022-23	2021-22	2022-23	2021-22	2022-23	2021-22
The Rt Hon Victoria Prentis KC, MP, Attorney General from 25 October 2022	40,535	-	10,000	-	50,000	-
The Rt Hon Michael Ellis KC, MP, Attorney General from 2 March 2021 to 10 September 2021, Solicitor General from 10 September 2021 to 15 September 2021 and Attorney General from 6 September 2022 until 25 October 2022	10,453	45,401	4,000	9,000	15,000	55,000
The Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC, MP, Attorney General from 13 February 2020, maternity leave from 26 February 2021, returned 10 September 2021, Attorney General until 6 September 2022	47,225	91,407	10,000	24,000	57,000	116,000
Michael Tomlinson KC, MP, Solicitor General from 7 September 2022	31,651	-	9,000	-	41,000	-
Edward Timpson CBE KC, MP, Solicitor General from 7 July 2022 until 7 September 2022	9,692	-	2,000	-	12,000	-
Alex Chalk KC, MP, Solicitor General from 16 September 2021 until 5 July 2022	15,270	28,981	4,000	7,000	19,000	36,000
The Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC, MP, Solicitor General from 2 March 2021 to 10 September 2021	-	30,842	-	6,000	-	37,000

1 The value of pension benefits accrued during the year is calculated as (the real increase in pension multiplied by 20) less (the contributions made by the individual). The real increase excludes increases due to inflation or any increase or decrease due to transfer of pension rights.

The Rt Hon Victoria Prentis KC MP - the full year equivalent was £94,450

The Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP - the figures include maternity leave pay from 1 April 2021 to 10 September 2021. The full year equivalent for Attornery General is £94,450

The Rt Hon Michael Ellis KC MP - the figures cover his roles as Solicitor General and Attorney General. The full year equivalent for AG is £94,450 and £57,962 for SG.

Michael Tomlinson KC MP - the full year equivalent was £57,962

Edward Timpson CBE KC MP - the full year equivalent was £57,962

Alex Chalk KC MP - the full year equivalent was £57,962

The Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP - the full year equivalent was £57,962

Single total figure of remuneration

Officials	Salary £000		Bonus Payments £000		Pension Benefits to nearest £1,000(1)		Total £000
	2022-23	2021-22	2022-23	2021-22	2022-23	2021-22	2022-23	2021-22
Susanna McGibbon Permanent Secretary	160-165	160-165	-	5-10	-41,000	177,000	120-125	345-350
Elizabeth Hambley Legal Director General	130-135	120-125	-	-	22,000	119,000	150-155	235-240
Mel Nebhrajani CB Legal Director General from 1 October 2021	130-135	65-70	-	-	70,000	68,000	200-205	135-140
Jessica de Mounteney Legal Director General from 7 February 2022	180-185	25-30	-	-	-	-	180-185	25-30
Damian Paterson Director of Strategy, People and Culture from 26 July 2021	95-100	60-65	-	-	42,000	64,000	140-145	125-130
Jon Fundrey Director of Finance, Operations and Digital from 3 May 2022	130-135	-	-	-	47,000	-	175-180	-
Andrew Cayley CMG KC HM Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate	125-130	125-130	-	-	49,000	49,000	170-175	170-175
Douglas Wilson OBE Ex-Officio board member from 12 July 2021	140-145	100-105	-	-	17,000	41,000	160-165	140-145
Lee John-Charles CBE Co-opted board member from July 2020 to December 2022	75-80	100-105	0-5	0-5	-36,000	19,000	40-45	120-125
Stephen Braviner Roman Legal Director General until 26 January 2022	-	105-100	-	5-10	-	22,000	-	135-140
Wendy Hardaker CB Legal Director General from 17 March 2021 until 30 September 2021	-	60-65	-	5-10	-	18,000	-	85-90
Anna Sanders Director of Strategy, People and Culture until 30 June 2021	-	20-25	-	5-10	-	7,000	-	40-45
Nick Payne Finance, Operations and Digital Director until 11 February 2022	-	115-120	-	-	-	19,000	-	135-140
Shehzad Charania MBE Director General of Attorney General’s Office from 29 September 2020 until 12 July 2021	-	55-60	-	-	-	29,000	-	80-85

1 The value of pension benefits accrued during the year is calculated as (the real increase in pension multiplied by 20) plus (the real increase in any lump sum) less (the contributions made by the individual). The real increase excludes increases due to inflation or any increase or decrease due to transfer of pension rights. Where prior year figures have changed this is due to a retrospective update to salary data.

Notes 2021-22

• Stephen Braviner Roman - full year equivalent salary £130k-£135k

• Wendy Hardaker - full year equivalent salary £120k-£125k

• Mel Nebhrajani - full year equivalent salary £120k-£125k

• Jessica de Mounteney - full year equivalent salary £175k-£180k (one year loan from Office of the Parliamentary Counsel)

• Anna Sanders - full year equivalent salary £95k-£100k

• Damian Paterson - full year equivalent salary £90k-£95k

• Nick Payne - full year equivalent salary £125k-£130k

• Shehzad Charania - full year equivalent salary £120k-£125k

• Douglas Wilson - full year equivalent salary £140k-£145k

Notes 2022-23

• Jon Fundrey - full year equivalent salary was £140k-£145k

• Lee John-Charles - full year equivalent salary was £90k-£95k

The Non-Executive Directors were paid salaries in the following bands:

	Contract end	Salary £000		Benefits-in-kind to nearest £100		Total £000
		2022-23	2021-22	2022-23	2021-22	2022-23	2021-22
Catherine Berney	April 2023	15-20	15-20	-	-	15-20	15-20
Erica Handling	October 2023	15-20	15-20	-	-	15-20	15-20
Mike Green	January 2025	15-20	0-5	600	-	15-20	0-5
Thomas Taylor	September 2021	-	5-10	-	-	-	5-10

The department's Non-Executive Directors necessarily incur travelling and other expenses to attend departmental meetings. The tax liability arising on their reimbursement by GLD is met by GLD and is shown in the table above as a benefit in kind. Full year equivalents for Thomas Taylor and Mike Green are £15k-£20k for 2021-22 salary.

Salary

‘Salary’ includes gross salary; overtime; reserved rights to London weighting or London allowances; recruitment and retention allowances; private office allowances and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on payments made by the department and thus recorded in these Accounts. In respect of ministers in the House of Commons, departments bear only the cost of the additional ministerial remuneration; the salary for their services as an MP (£84,144 from 1 April 2022) and various allowances to which they are entitled are borne centrally.

Benefits in kind

The monetary value of benefits in kind covers any benefits provided by the department and treated by HM Revenue and Customs as a taxable emolument.

Bonus payments

Performance related pay awards (non-consolidated) are based on an individual’s performance and are moderated as part of the SCS appraisal process. Bonuses disclosed may relate to performance in the previous financial year.

Pay Multiples

Reporting bodies are required to disclose the relationship between the remuneration of the highest-paid director in their organisation and the median remuneration of the organisation’s workforce.

	2022-23 £	2021-22 £	Percentage change %
Remuneration of the highest-paid director	182,500	177,500	3%
25th percentile of pay and benefits	45,234	43,916
Highest-paid director's remuneration as a multiple of the 25th percentile	4.0	4.0	0%
Median remuneration of the workforce	52,788	52,042	1%
Highest-paid director's remuneration as a multiple of the median remuneration	3.5	3.4	3%
75th percentile of pay and benefits	66,621	66,294
Highest-paid director's remuneration as a multiple of the 75th percentile	2.7	2.7	0%

Total remuneration includes salary, non-consolidated performance-related pay and benefits in kind. It does not include severance payments, employer pension contributions and the cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) of pensions. The median, 25th and 75th percentiles are salary only, there were no bonuses or benefits. There were also no bonuses or benefits for the highest paid director in either year.

The pay ratios for the 25th, median and 75th percentiles have changed by 0%, 3% and 0% respectively. This is mainly attributable to the absolute change in pay for the highest-paid director being higher than that for the median. The average percentage change from the previous financial year in respect of pay for employees of the department taken as a whole was 3%.

The median pay ratio is consistent with the pay, reward and progression policies for the department, where a 3% pay award was applied for most members of staff in line with the Civil Service Pay Remit.

In 2022-23 no (2021-22: no) employees received remuneration in excess of the highest-paid director.

Remuneration ranged from £19k-£183k (2021-22: £22k-£178k).

This information has been subject to audit.

Pension Benefits

Ministers	Accrued pension at age 65 as at 31/3/23	Real increase in pension at age 65	CETV at 31/3/23(2)	CETV at 31/3/22(1)	Real increase in CETV funded by taxpayer
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
The Rt Hon Victoria Prentis KC, MP, Attorney General from 25 October 2022	2	1	28	18	5
The Rt Hon Michael Ellis KC, MP, Attorney General from 2 March 2021 to 10 September 2021, Solicitor General from 10 September 2021 to 15 September 2021 and Attorney General from 6 September 2022 until 25 October 2022	5	-	71	64	3
The Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC, MP, Attorney General from 13 February 2020, maternity leave from 26 February 2021, returned 10 September 2021, Attorney General until 6 September 2022	5	1	52	41	3
Michael Tomlinson KC, MP, Solicitor General from 7 September 2022	2	1	18	10	4
Edward Timpson CBE KC, MP, Solicitor General from 7 July 2022 until 7 September 2022	4	-	47	44	1
Alex Chalk KC, MP, Solicitor General from 16 September 2021	1	-	16	12	1

1 Start date is 31 March 2022 unless the minister was appointed to the department during the year.

2 End date is 31 March 2023 unless the minister left the department during the year.

This information has been subject to audit.

Ministerial pensions

Pension benefits for ministers are provided by the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF). The scheme is made under statute and the rules are set out in the Ministers’ etc Pension Scheme 2015, available at: http://qna.files.parliament.uk/ws-attachments/170890/original/PCPF%20MINISTERIAL%20SCHEME%20FINAL%20RULES.doc

Those ministers who are Members of Parliament may also accrue an MP’s pension under the PCPF (details of which are not included in this report). A new MP’s pension scheme was introduced from May 2015, although members who were aged 55 or older on 1st April 2013 have transitional protection to remain in the previous final salary pension scheme.

Benefits for ministers are payable from State Pension age under the 2015 scheme. Pensions are re-valued annually in line with Pensions Increase legislation both before and after retirement. The contribution rate from May 2015 is 11.1% and the accrual rate is 1.775% of pensionable earnings.

The figure shown for pension value includes the total pension payable to the member under both the pre and post-2015 ministerial pension schemes.

The Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV)

This is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent spouse’s pension payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves a scheme and chooses to transfer the pension benefits they have accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total ministerial service, not just their current appointment as a minister. CETVs are calculated in accordance with the Occupational Pensions Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.

CETV figures are calculated using the guidance on discount rates for calculating unfunded public service pension contribution rates that was extant at 31 March 2023. HM Treasury published updated guidance on 27 April 2023; this guidance will be used in the calculation of 2023-24 CETV figures.

The real increase in the value of the CETV

This is the element of the increase in accrued pension funded by the Exchequer. It excludes increases due to inflation and contributions paid by the minister. It is worked out using common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.

Officials	Accrued pension at pension age as at 31/3/23 and related lump sum	Real increase in pension and related lump sum at pension age	CETV at 31/3/23	CETV at 31/3/22(1)	Real increase in CETV	Employer contribution to partnership pension accounts
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	Nearest £100
Susanna McGibbon Permanent Secretary	65-70 plus lump sum of 130-135	-	1,267	1,181	-60	-
Elizabeth Hambley Legal Director General	50-55 plus lump sum of 100-105	0-2.5	982	877	3	-
Mel Nebhrajani CB Legal Director General from 1 October 2021	50-55	2.5-5	861	727	48	-
Jessica de Mounteney Legal Director General from 7 February 2022	-	-	-	873	-	29,400
Damian Paterson Director of Strategy, People and Culture from 26 July 2021	25-30	0-2.5	355	298	18	-
Jon Fundrey Director of Finance, Operations and Digital from 3 May 2022	55-60	2.5-5	1,036	954	42	-
Andrew Cayley CMG KC HM Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate from 1 April 2021	25-30	2.5-5	445	383	33	-
Douglas Wilson OBE Director General of Attorney General’s Office from 12 July 2021	45-50	0-2.5	616	555	-2	-
Lee John-Charles CBE Co-opted Board member from July 2020 to December 2022	40-45 plus lump sum of 105-110	-	936	908	-46	-
Stephen Braviner Roman Legal Director General until 26 January 2022	-	-	-	970	-	-
Wendy Hardaker CB Legal Director General from 17 March 2021 until 30 September 2021	-	-	-	619	-	-
Anna Sanders Director of Strategy, People and Culture until 30 June 2021	-	-	-	355	-	-
Nick Payne Finance, Operations and Digital Director until 11 February 2022	-	-	-	1,324	-	-
Shehzad Charania MBE Director General of Attorney General’s Office from 29 September 2020	-	-	-	386	-	-

1 Where prior year figures have changes this is due to a retrospective update to data.

This information has been subject to audit.

Civil Service Pensions

Pension benefits are provided through the Civil Service pension arrangements. From 1 April 2015 a new pension scheme for civil servants was introduced – the Civil Servants and Others Pension Scheme or alpha, which provides benefits on a career average basis with a normal pension age equal to the member’s State Pension Age (or 65 if higher). From that date, all newly appointed civil servants and the majority of those already in service joined alpha. Prior to that date, civil servants participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS). The PCSPS has four sections: three providing benefits on a final salary basis (classic, premium or classic plus) with a normal pension age of 60; and one providing benefits on a whole career basis (nuvos) with a normal pension age of 65.

These statutory arrangements are unfunded with the cost of benefits met by monies voted by Parliament each year. Pensions payable under classic, premium, classic plus, nuvos and alpha are increased annually in line with Pensions Increase legislation. Existing members of the PCSPS who were within 10 years of their normal pension age on 1 April 2012 remained in the PCSPS after 1 April 2015. Those who were between 10 years and 13 years and 5 months from their normal pension age on 1 April 2012 switch into alpha sometime between 1 June 2015 and 1 February 2022. Because the government plans to remove discrimination identified by the courts in the way that the 2015 pension reforms were introduced for some members, eligible members with relevant service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 may be entitled to different pension benefits in relation to that period (and this may affect the Cash Equivalent Transfer Values shown in this report – see below). All members who switch to alpha have their PCSPS benefits ‘banked’, with those with earlier benefits in one of the final salary sections of the PCSPS having those benefits based on their final salary when they leave alpha. (The pension figures quoted for officials show pension earned in PCSPS or alpha – as appropriate. Where the official has benefits in both the PCSPS and alpha the figure quoted is the combined value of their benefits in the two schemes.) Members joining from October 2002 may opt for either the appropriate defined benefit arrangement or a defined contribution (money purchase) pension with an employer contribution (partnership pension account).

Employee contributions are salary-related and range between 4.6% and 8.05% for members of classic, premium, classic plus, nuvos and alpha. Benefits in classic accrue at the rate of 1/80th of final pensionable earnings for each year of service. In addition, a lump sum equivalent to three years initial pension is payable on retirement. For premium, benefits accrue at the rate of 1/60th of final pensionable earnings for each year of service. Unlike classic, there is no automatic lump sum. Classic plus is essentially a hybrid with benefits for service before 1 October 2002 calculated broadly as per classic and benefits for service from October 2002 worked out as in premium. In nuvos a member builds up a pension based on their pensionable earnings during their period of scheme membership. At the end of the scheme year (31 March) the member’s earned pension account is credited with 2.3% of their pensionable earnings in that scheme year and the accrued pension is uprated in line with Pensions Increase legislation. Benefits in alpha build up in a similar way to nuvos, except that the accrual rate in 2.32%. In all cases, members may opt to give up (commute) pension for a lump sum up to the limits set by the Finance Act 2004.

The partnership pension account is an occupational defined contribution pension arrangement which is part of the Legal & General Mastertrust. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member). The employee does not have to contribute, but where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer’s basic contribution). Employers also contribute a further 0.5% of pensionable salary to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).

The accrued pension quoted is the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over pension age. Pension age is 60 for members of classic, premium and classic plus, 65 for members of nuvos, and the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha (The pension figures quoted for officials show pension earned in PCSPS or alpha – as appropriate. Where the official has benefits in both the PCSPS and alpha the figure quoted is the combined value of their benefits in the two schemes, but note that part of that pension may be payable from different ages).

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found at the website:

www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk.

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent spouse’s pension payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves a scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the pension scheme, not just their service in a senior capacity to which disclosure applies.

The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the civil service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost. CETVs are worked out in accordance with the Occupational Pensions Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.

CETV figures are calculated using the guidance on discount rates for calculating unfunded public service pension contribution rates that was extant at 31 March 2023. HM Treasury published updated guidance on 27 April 2023; this guidance will be used in the calculation of 2023-24 CETV figures.

Real increase in CETV

This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.

Staff Report

Staff costs

				2022-23	2021-22
	Permanently employed staff	Others	Ministers	Total	Total
Staff costs comprise:	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Wages and salaries	144,399	-	155	144,554	136,938
Social security costs	17,291	-	20	17,311	15,602
Other pension costs	38,535	-	-	38,535	36,804
Sub Total	200,225	-	175	200,400	189,344
Agency and contracted staff	-	21,580	-	21,580	19,977
Inward secondments	-	489	-	489	528
Total	200,225	22,069	175	222,469	209,849
Less recoveries in respect of outward secondments	(532)	-	-	(532)	(164)
Total Net Costs	199,693	22,069	175	221,937	209,685

This information has been subject to audit.

No staff costs have been charged to capital.

The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) and the Civil Servant and Other Pension Scheme (CSOPS) - known as ‘alpha’ are unfunded multi-employer defined benefit schemes but the GLD is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme actuary valued the scheme as at 31 March 2016. Details can be found in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk.

For 2022-23, employers’ contributions of £38,184k were payable to the PCSPS (2021-22: £36,526k) at one of four rates in the range of 26.6 to 30.3% of pensionable pay, based on salary bands. The Scheme Actuary reviews employer contributions usually every four years following a full scheme valuation.

The contribution rates are set to meet the cost of the benefits accruing during 2022-23 to be paid when the member retires and not the benefits paid during this period to existing pensioners.

Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £353k (2021-22: £336k) were paid to the appointed stakeholder pension provider. Employer contributions are age-related and range from 8 to 14.75% of pensionable pay. Employers also match employee contributions of up to 3% of pensionable pay. In addition, employer contributions of £14k (2021-22: £13k), 0.5% of pensionable pay, were payable to the PCSPS to cover the cost of the future provision of lump sum benefits on death in service and ill health retirement of these employees. Contributions due to the partnership pension providers at the reporting date were £nil. Contributions prepaid at that date were £nil.

No members of staff retired early on ill health grounds (2021-22: one); the total additional accrued pension liabilities in the year amounted to £nil (2021-22: £nil).

Average number of persons employed

The average number of whole-time equivalent persons employed during the year was as follows.

					2022-23	2021-22
					Number	Number
	Permanent Staff	Others	Ministers	Special Advisers	Total	Total
GLD	2,318	504	-	-	2,822	2,769
AGO	42	11	2	2	57	54
HMCPSI	25	2	-	-	27	26
Total	2,385	517	2	2	2,906	2,849

"Others" relates to agency staff and staff employed on a fixed term basis.

This information has been subject to audit.

Special Advisers

Special Advisers are temporary civil servants. In order to improve efficiency, the administration of staff costs for all Special Advisers across government was moved to the Cabinet Office in July 2019, with corresponding budget cover transfers. Therefore special adviser costs are now reported in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts. Special Advisers remain employed by the respective departments of their appointing Minister.

In line with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 and the Model Contract for Special Advisers, a Special Adviser's appointment automatically ends when their appointing Minister leaves office. Special Advisers are not entitled to a notice period but receive contractual termination benefits to compensate for this. Termination benefits are based on length of service and capped at six months’ salary. If a Special Adviser returns to work for HM Government following the receipt of a severance payment, the payment is required to be repaid, less a deduction in lieu of wages for the period until their return. Termination costs for special advisers are reported in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.

The Special Adviser staff numbers reported are a snapshot as at 31 March 2023.

Reporting of Civil Service and other compensation schemes – exit packages

	2022-23			2021-22
Exit package cost band	Number of compulsory redundancies	Number of other departures agreed	Total number of exit packages by cost band	Number of compulsory redundancies	Number of other departures agreed	Total number of exit packages by cost band
<£10,000	-	-	-	-	-	-
£10,000 - £25,000	-	-	-	-	-	-
£25,000 - £50,000	-	-	-	-	2	2
£50,000 - £100,000	-	1	1	-	1	1
£100,000- £150,000	-	-	-	-	-	-
£150,000- £200,000	-	-	-	-	-	-
£200,000- £250,000	-	-	-	-	-	-
£250,000- £300,000	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total number of exit packages by type	-	1	1	-	3	3
Total resource cost/£	-	70,000	70,000	-	135,147	135,147

Redundancy and other departure costs have been paid in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, a statutory scheme made under the Superannuation Act 1972. Exit costs are accounted for in full in the year of departure. Where the department has agreed early retirements, the additional costs are met by the department and not by the Civil Service pension scheme. Ill-health retirement costs are met by the pension scheme and are not included in the table.

This information has been subject to audit.

Staff turnover

The staff turnover percentage for 2022-23 for the department (including GLD, the AGO and HMCPSI) was 14.2% (2021-22: 13.4%). This has been calculated as the number of leavers within that period divided by the average of staff in post over the period (headcount) in accordance with the definition for ‘Departmental Turnover’ (staff leaving the Civil Service or a particular department) provided by the Cabinet Office.

SCS by Payband

The number of SCS staff by pay band as at 31 March was as follows:

	31 March 2023			31 March 2022
	GLD	AGO	HMCPSI	GLD	AGO	HMCPSI
SCS 4	1	-	-	1	-	-
SCS 3	3	1	-	3	1	-
SCS 2	25	1	1	28	1	1
SCS 1 and 1A	189	3	3	176	3	3
Total	218	5	4	208	5	4

The HMCPSI SCS Pay Band 2 is a public appointment equating to a Pay Band 2.

Staff composition

The department, including the AGO and HMCPSI, continues to promote diversity and inclusion for all and, in particular, continues to maintain a strong gender profile and work to improve the representation of ethnic minority and disabled staff at SCS level and in feeder grades to the SCS.

The gender breakdown of the department's headcount as at 31 March was as follows:

	31 March 2023		31 March 2022
	Male	Female	Male	Female
Officials as disclosed in the Remuneration Report	4	4	4	4
Non executive directors	1	2	1	2
SCS (excluding officials disclosed in the Remuneration Report)	79	136	85	124
Employees	860	1,707	872	1,623
Total	944	1,849	962	1,753

Note: includes GLD Board members, Director General of the AGO and the Chief Inspector, HMCPSI, but excludes ministers.

The proportion of ethnic minority staff (based on those who have self-declared) at SCS is 14.8% (2021-22: 13.4%). The proportion of all staff is 24% (2021-22: 22.8%). Levels of staff with disabilities (based on those who have self-declared) are 9.4% in the SCS (2021-22: 8.8%) and 7.7% for all staff (2021-22: 7.8%). Individuals are supported by efficient arrangements for assessments and the implementation of workplace adjustments for those who require them.

Sickness absence

Overall sickness absence (including the AGO and HMCPSI) was an average of 4.9 working days lost per person (2021-22: 5.1 days). This compares favourably with the Civil Service average of 7.9 days lost per staff year for the year ended 31 March 2022 (most recent available figures). 63% of staff had no sickness absences (2021-22: 68%).

Managers are encouraged to actively manage sickness absence in their area, ensuring that people are supported during any illness, and that any underlying causes are identified and addressed, where possible, through workplace adjustments.

Expenditure on consultancy and temporary staff

Expenditure on consultants in 2022-23 has been £421k (2021-22: £347k). The spend mainly relates to work on reviewing GLD's recruitment and resourcing processes and work on the department's pay business case.

Expenditure on temporary staff was £21.6m (2021-22: £19.9m). GLD continues to employ agency and contract staff where there is a need for specialist skills, and where for practical business reasons the Board has agreed there should be a mixed economy of permanent and contract staff to provide some flexibility to cope with changes in demand. GLD also employs agency staff in lieu of recruitment, to support resourcing where it has not been possible to attract as many permanent staff as required to deliver the department's work.

High paid off-payroll appointments

Following the Review of Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees published by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 23 May 2013, departments must publish information on their high paid and/or senior off-payroll engagements.

For GLD, these engagements are principally made up of two categories of individual:

• In the ICT area, the GLD Board has agreed that there should be a mixed economy of permanent and temporary staff for practical business reasons. During 2022-23, GLD continued to manage a number of temporary agency ICT staff to undertake specific IT tasks, in addition to some who have been there for longer periods

• Temporary agency lawyers, via the Contingent Labour contract, who are filling business critical posts and help manage the fluctuation in demand for legal services. During 2022-23, GLD ran a number of external recruitment exercises including the continuous recruitment of Grade 7 lawyers to bring in permanent staff, and to consequentially reduce the dependency on temporary agency legal staff.

Details are as follows:

Table 1: For all off-payroll engagements as of 31 March 2023, for more than £245 per day

	GLD	AGO	HMCPSI
No. of existing engagements as at 31 March 2023	99	-	-
Of which
No. that have existed for less than one year at time of reporting	37	-	-
No. that have existed for between one and two years at time of reporting	23	-	-
No. that have existed for between two and three years at time of reporting	7	-	-
No. that have existed for between three and four years at time of reporting	7	-	-
No. that have existed for four or more years at time of reporting	25	-	-

(2021-22 the number of existing engagements as at 31 March 2022 over 6 months in duration was 75).

Table 2: For all off-payroll appointments engaged at any point between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 for more than £245 per day

	GLD	AGO	HMCPSI
No. of temporary off payroll appointments engaged between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023	160	-	-
Of which
Not subject to off payroll legislation	50	-	-
Subject to off-payroll legislation and determined as in-scope of IR35	108	-	-
Subject to off-payroll legislation and determined as out-of-scope of IR35	2	-	-
No. of engagements reassessed for compliance or assurance purposes during the year	88	-	-
Of which: No. of engagements that saw a change to IR35 status following review	-	-	-

(2021-22: the no of new engagements, or those that reached six months in duration, between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 was 37).

Table 3: For any off-payroll engagements of board members, and/or senior officials with significant financial responsibility, between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

2022-23	GLD	AGO	HMCPSI
No of off payroll engagements of Board members and/or senior officials with significant financial responsibility during the financial year	-	-	-
Total No of officials on payroll and off payroll that have been deemed 'Board members and/or senior officials with significant financial responsibility' during the financial year	7	1	1

2021-22	GLD	AGO	HMCPSI
No of off payroll engagements of Board members and/or senior officials with significant financial responsibility during the financial year	-	-	-
Total No of officials on payroll and off payroll that have been deemed 'Board members and/or senior officials with significant financial responsibility' during the financial year	10	2	1

Trade Union Facility Time

The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 came into force on 1 April 2017. These regulations place a legislative requirement on relevant public sector employers to collate and publish, on an annual basis, a range of data on the amount and cost of facility time within their organisation. These disclosures cover GLD, AGO and HMCPSI.

Table 1: Relevant Union Officials

Total number of employees who were relevant union officials between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

	2022-23	2021-22
	No.	No.
Employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period	30	32
Full-time equivalent number	29.7	31.6

Table 2: Percentage of time spent on facility time

For employees who were relevant union officials employed between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, percentage of their working hours spent on facility time

	2022-23	2021-22
	No.	No.
0%	-	5
1% - 50%	30	26
51% - 99%	-	1
100%	-	-

Table 3: Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time

For employees who were relevant union officials employed between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, percentage of pay bill spent on facility time

	2022-23	2021-22
The total cost of facility time (£k)	133	126
The total annual pay bill for Government Legal Department (£k)	194,757	185,435
The percentage of total pay bill spend on facility time (%)	0.07%	0.07%

Table 4: Paid trade union activities

For employees who were relevant union officials employed between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, percentage of time spent on paid trade union activities.

	2022-23	2021-22
Time spent on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid of facility time hours (%)	0%	0%

Consultation with employees

2022 People Survey

Government Legal Department

The annual People Survey is a key measure of the department's success in delivering GLD’s vision to be the ‘best employer for our people’. In the 2022 Survey, GLD achieved an Engagement Index of 59% (with a response rate of 70%), this represented a three-point drop on 2021 and is six points below the Civil Service average.

Of the nine main engagement areas, eight have gone down (Organisational objectives and purpose, My work, My manager, Learning and development, Inclusion and fair treatment, Resources and workloads, Pay, Engagement) on 2021 and one (My team) has stayed the same. None increased. Colleagues reporting experience of discrimination dropped 2% compared to 2021 and is down four points compared to 2020. Bullying and harassment dropped 1% for the second year in a row.

An Action Plan in response to the People Survey was set out to staff in April 2023.

Attorney General’s Office

In response to the 2021 people survey the AGO Staff Engagement Group analysed the results and provided key recommendations to the Executive Board. There were 16 recommendations submitted and agreed by the Executive Board, of those 10 have been discharged, with the 6 outstanding being longer term strategies being taken forward by the inception of a career committee and the launch in December of the AGO career hub.

In the 2022 People Survey, the AGO achieved an Engagement index of 69% with a response rate of 86% which is an increase of 3% from 2021. Collectively the staff leaders’ groups are holding discussions with staff to develop recommendations for the Executive Board.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

HMCPSI achieved an Engagement Index of 86% with a response rate of 93%. HMCPSI had the highest Engagement Indexes of all participating organisations, with the Engagement Index being 21% above the Civil Service benchmark.

HMCPSI maintained consistently high scores across all themes. HMCPSI is committed to ensuring that the level of staff engagement is maintained and has an active Staff Engagement Group who support SMT to identify any emerging issues.

Partnership

GLD has continued to maintain a positive working relationship with the Trade Unions (the FDA and the Public and Commercial Services Union). Human Resources regularly meet the unions on an informal basis to discuss a range of issues that have an impact on union members, and there are also regular formal Partnership meetings, which include representatives from across GLD, and departmental and national union representatives. Business managers are also encouraged to meet trade union colleagues at an early stage where resourcing levels or workloads may be changing.

GLD also manages the working relationship with the Trade Unions on behalf of the AGO and HMCPSI.

Health and Safety

Government Legal Department

GLD is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment and has a number of initiatives in place to promote and support the health and wellbeing of its employees. These include:

• delivery of Civil Service and GLD Health and Wellbeing priorities taken to support GLD staff and build a more sociable workplace and overcome emerging issues in the future.

• a Senior Disability and Wellness Champion in Place to provide leadership support and direction in ensuring people are thriving at work.

• a range of Health and Wellbeing guidance documents on the Health and Wellbeing homepage on the Intranet.

• the provision of display screen equipment and home working assessments and reasonable workplace adjustments for employees.

• access to annual flu vaccination programme.

• access to an employee assistance counselling service.

• training for Fire Marshals, First Aiders and Mental Health First Aiders.

• access to culture behaviour champions.

• a commitment to various national events, including Mental Health Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day.

GLD has reasonable workplace adjustment policies that are in line with the Cabinet Office Civil Service Employee Policy (CSEP), to help ensure that a uniform approach is taken by all departments where GLD staff are located. These have all been updated to reflect updated central guidance with the aim of ensuring improved accessibility for staff. The refreshed policies will be published in Spring, followed by a range of health and safety communications addressing topics raised by the Disability Network.

GLD provides reasonable workplace adjustment data to the Civil Service Workstation Assessment Service (CSWAS) along with other government departments so that performance can be measured, and trends can be identified. The Reasonable Workplace Adjustment Passport System is used by GLD and helps to ensure that adjustments are transferred seamlessly between departments and teams. Over the coming year, as part of the department's communications plan, GLD will be promoting the updated passport and encouraging all staff with adjustments to make use of it.

GLD continue to provide furniture and equipment for staff who are working in new hybrid ways of working, where GLD staff are entitled to request reasonable workplace adjustments recommended by Occupational Health assessments.

Attorney General’s Office

The AGO applies the GLD approach to identifying and handling health and safety issues within the department. The AGO has qualified fire marshals, first aid providers and display screen equipment assessors to support the health and wellbeing of staff. The health and counselling services which GLD provides are also available to the AGO's staff.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

HMCPSI supported flexible working before COVID-19 with many staff working from home when not on inspection. Since COVID-19 and the enforced working from home, more members of HMCPSI have adopted this style of working. HMCPSI has continued to support staff to work safely and comfortably from home, in the offices or on site.

With these working arrangements it is important that HMCPSI staff remain connected. HMPCSI achieves this through on-site inspection work where teams of inspectors come together and also fortnightly keep in touch meetings where groups of 4 to 5 colleagues meet virtually to replace the ‘water cooler’ conversations that happen in the office. HMCPSI also have lunch and learn events where staff are encouraged to come together to look at business topics. In October HMCPSI had a staff conference which included a session on well-being led by a newly appointed wellbeing champion.

Parliamentary accountability and audit report

Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply

In addition to the primary statements prepared under IFRS, the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) requires the department to prepare a Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply (SOPS) and supporting notes. The SOPS and related notes are subject to audit, as detailed in the Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons.

The SOPS is a key accountability statement that shows, in detail, how an entity has spent against their Supply Estimate. Supply is the monetary provision (for resource and capital purposes) and cash (drawn primarily from the Consolidated fund), that Parliament gives statutory authority for entities to utilise. The Estimate details supply and is voted on by Parliament at the start of the financial year. Should an entity exceed the limits set by their Supply Estimate, called control limits, their accounts will receive a qualified opinion.

The format of the SOPS mirrors the Supply Estimates, published on gov.uk, to enable comparability between what Parliament approves and the final outturn. The SOPS contain a summary table, detailing performance against the control limits that Parliament have voted on, cash spent (budgets are compiled on an accruals basis and so outturn won’t exactly tie to cash spent) and administration. The supporting notes detail the following: Outturn by Estimate line, providing a more detailed breakdown (note SOPS 1); a reconciliation of outturn to net operating expenditure in the Statement of Comprehensive Net Income, to tie the SOPS to the financial statements (note SOPS 2); and a reconciliation of outturn to net cash requirement (note SOPS 3).

Summary of Resource and Capital Outturn 2022-23

			2022-23						2022-23	2021-22
Note			Voted	Non -Voted	Outturn Total	Voted	Non-Voted	Estimate Total	Voted Outturn compared with Estimate saving/(excess)	Outturn Total
			£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL)
Resource	SOPS 1.1		(2,293)	-	(2,293)	10,304	-	10,304	12,597	(2,769)
Capital	SOPS 1.2		2,985	-	2,985	4,350	-	4,350	1,365	1,810
Total			692		692	14,654		14,654	13,962	(959)
Annually Managed Expenditure (AME)
Resource	SOPS 1.1		334	-	334	500	-	500	166	(437)
Capital	SOPS 1.2		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total			334	-	334	500	-	500	166	(437)
Total Budget
Resource	SOPS 1.1		(1,959)	-	(1,959)	10,804		10,804	12,763	(3,206)
Capital	SOPS 1.2		2,985	-	2,985	4,350	-	4,350	1,365	1,810
Total Budget Expenditure			1,026	-	1,026	15,154	-	15,154	14,128	(1,396)
Non Budget Expenditure			-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total Budget and Non Budget			1,026	-	1,026	15,154	-	15,154	14,128	(1,396)

Net cash requirement 2022-23

		2022-23	2022-23		2021-22
	Note	Outturn	Estimate	Outturn compared with Estimate saving/(excess)	Outturn
		£000	£000	£000	£000
Net cash requirement	SOPS 3.	2,851	15,316	12,465	(11,183)

Administration costs 2022-23

		2022-23	2022-23		2021-22
	Note	Outturn	Estimate	Outturn compared with Estimate saving/ (excess)	Outturn
		£000	£000	£000	£000
Administration costs	SOPS 1.1	(2,590)	10,038	12,628	(3,121)

Figures in the areas outlined in bold are voted totals subject to Parliamentary control. In addition, although not a separate voted limit, any breach of the Administration Budget will result in an excess vote.

The SOPS and Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, which is similar to, but different to, IFRS. In the case of the department for financial year 2022-23 there are no differences to reconcile between the budgeting framework and IFRS. Further information on the Public Spending Framework and the reasons why budgeting rules are different to IFRS can also be found in chapter 1 of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, available on gov.uk.

The SOPS provides a detailed view of financial performance, in a form that is voted on and recognised by Parliament. The Financial Results section, in the Performance Report, provides a summarised discussion of outturn against estimate and functions as an introduction to the SOPS disclosures.

Notes to the Departmental Resource Accounts (Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply)

SOPS 1. Net outturn

SOPS 1.1 Analysis of net resource outturn by Estimate line

									2022-23	2021-22
	Administration			Programme			Outturn Total	Estimate Net total	Estimate Net total outturn compared with Estimate saving/(excess)	Prior- year outturn
	Gross	Income	Net	Gross	Income	Net
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Spending in Departmental Expenditure Limit
Voted
A: GLD	297,735	(308,862)	(11,127)	-	-	-	(11,127)	766	11,893	(12,015)
B: AGO	6,036	(267)	5,769	297	-	297	6,066	6,499	433	6,492
C: HMCPSI	2,768	-	2,768	-	-	-	2,768	3,039	271	2,754
Total Voted	306,539	(309,129)	(2,590)	297	-	297	(2,293)	10,304	12,597	(2,769)
Non-Voted	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Spending in Annually Managed Expenditure
Voted
D: Provisions	-	-	-	334	-	334	334	500	166	(437)
Non-Voted	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	306,539	(309,129)	(2,590)	631	-	631	(1,959)	10,804	12,763	(3,206)

The variance between Estimate and Outturn is due to:

GLD underspent by £11.1m against its voted funding of £0.8m, generating an overall surplus against full cost recovery of £10.4m. This surplus was generated from lower than anticipated spending on staff costs, corporate costs and external legal support.

The AGO underspent against budget by £0.4m, mainly on account of lower staff and administration costs.

HMCPSI underspent against budget by £0.3m, mainly on account of lower staff costs.

RDEL overall is negative due to GLD net income exceeding the net expenditure across the rest of the Estimate lines.

SOPS 1.2 Analysis of net capital outturn by Estimate line

	2022-23					2022-23		2021-22
	Outturn				Estimate	Estimate
	Gross	Income		Net	Net total	Net total outturn compared with Estimate saving/(excess)		Prior- year outturn
	£000	£000		£000	£000	£000		£000
Spending in Departmental Expenditure Limit
Voted
A: GLD	2,985	-		2,985	4,350	1,365		1,588
B: AGO	-	-		-	-	-		222
C: HMCPSI	-	-		-	-	-		-
Non-Voted	-	-		-	-	-		-
Annually Managed Expenditure
Voted
D: Provisions	-	-		-	-	-		-
Non-Voted	-	-		-	-	-		-
Total	2,985	-		2,985	4,350	1,365		1,810

The underspend on capital is mainly due to lower than budgeted spend on the purchase of leased assets accounted for as capital in accordance with international accounting standards.

The total Estimate columns include virements. Virements are the reallocation of provision in the Estimates that do not require parliamentary authority (because Parliament does not vote to that level of detail and delegates to HM Treasury). Further information on virements is provided in the Supply Estimates Manual, available on gov.uk.

The outturn vs estimate column is based on the total including virements. The estimate total before virements have been made is included so that users can tie the estimate back to the Estimates laid before Parliament.

SOPS 2. Reconciliation of Net Resource Outturn to Net Operating Income

		Note	2022-23 £000	2021-22 £000
Total resource outturn in Statement of Parliamentary Supply	Budget	SOPS 1.1	(1,959)	(3,206)
	Non-Budget		-	-
Net operating expenditure in Statement of Comprehensive Net Income			(1,959)	(3,206)

As noted in the introduction to the SOPS above, outturn and the Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, which is similar to, but different from, IFRS. Therefore, this reconciliation bridges the resource outturn to net operating expenditure, linking the SOPS to the financial statements.

SOPS 3. Reconciliation of Net Resource Outturn to Net Cash Requirement

				2022-23
	Note	Outturn £000	Estimate £000	Net total outturn compared with estimate saving/ (excess) £000
Resource Outturn	SOPS 1.1	(1,959)	10,804	12,763
Capital Outturn	SOPS 1.2	2,985	4,350	1,365
Accruals to cash adjustments:
Adjustments to remove non-cash items:
Depreciation and amortisation	4	(10,402)	(11,883)	(1,481)
IFRS 16: impact of adoption		1,023	-	(1,023)
Movement on provisions	4	(400)	(500)	(100)
Auditor's remuneration	4	(96)	-	96
Adjustments to reflect movements in working capital balances:
Increase in receivables	10	1,736	-	(1,736)
Decrease/(Increase) in payables	12	15,715	12,545	(3,170)
Less movement in supply creditor	12	(14,580)	-	14,580
Movement in lease liabilities	13	8,763		(8,763)
Use of provisions	14	66	-	(66)
Net Cash Requirement		2,851	15,316	12,465

As noted in the introduction to the SOPS above, outturn and the Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, not on a cash basis. Therefore, this reconciliation bridges the resource and capital outturn to the net cash requirement.

SOPS 4. Amounts of income to the Consolidated Fund

SOPS 4.1 Analysis of income payable to the Consolidated Fund

In addition to income retained by the department, the following income is payable to the Consolidated Fund.

	Outturn 2022-23 £000	Prior year 2021-22 £000
[Excess] cash surrenderable to the Consolidated Fund	-	27,045
Total amount payable to the Consolidated Fund	-	27,045

All amounts are on a cash basis. £27,045k was surrendered during 2022-23.

Losses and special payments

HMT’s publication, Managing Public Money requires a statement showing losses and special payments by value and by type to be shown where they exceed £300k in total, and those individually that exceed £300k.

There are no significant losses and special payments that need to be reported in accordance with Managing Public Money.

This is subject to audit.

Fees and Charges

An analysis of the Government Legal Department’s income and associated costs is shown below. The income and expenditure disclosed relates solely to the Government Legal Department and excludes the Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate whose income is non-business in nature and immaterial. Charges for the provision of legal services and administration services to Bona Vacantia Division are set to recover full costs in accordance with HMT’s guidance on fees and charges set out in Managing Public Money. This analysis is not for IFRS 8 purposes.

	2022-23				2021-22
Administration income:	Income £000	Vote funding £000	Full Cost £000	Surplus/ (deficit) £000	Income £000	Vote funding £000	Full Cost £000	Surplus/ (deficit) £000
Legal fees and charges to clients	300,689	-	290,331	10,358	283,180	-	271,551	11,629
Recovery of costs from Bona Vacantia	4,717	-	4,717	-	4,865	-	4,865	-
Other income	3,456	-	3,456	-	3,188	-	3,188	-
Non-chargeable work	-	249	249	-	-	290	290	-
Total (GLD)	308,862	249	298,753	10,358	291,233	290	279,894	11,629

'Bona Vacantia' relates to income charged for administering bona vacantia (ownerless assets in respect of dissolved companies and intestate estates). 'Other income' is primarily related to recoveries for subscription costs and ICT services provided to other government departments. Vote funding relates to Public Interest legal work. In accordance with HMT’s guidance a notional cost of capital charge £618k (2021-22: £676k) is included for setting fees and charges and is also reflected in full cost figures for this analysis. The notional cost of capital is not recognised in the financial statements. The cost of capital charge is calculated at the real rate set by HMT (currently 3.5%) on the average carrying amount of all assets less liabilities, except for cash balances held with the Government Banking Service.

This is subject to audit.

Remote contingent liabilities

The department has no contingent liabilities that need to be disclosed under Parliamentary reporting requirements. This is subject to audit.

Expenditure Tables

This information is not subject to audit.

These tables present actual expenditure for the years 2018-19 to 2022-23 and planned expenditure for 2023-24 and 2024-25. Outturn data is consistent with previous years’ published Accounts and plan years’ information is consistent with the Spending Review settlement, adjusted for growth.

The format of the tables is determined by HMT. Table 1 is a summary of the department’s net public spending. Table 2 is a summary of the department’s Administration expenditure.

Approval for the spending plans for 2022-23 are set out in the HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Supplementary Estimate 2022-23. The document is available at the HMT website at: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-treasury

Table 1: Public Spending

£000	2018-19 Outturn	2019-20 Outturn	2020-21 Outturn	2021-22 Outturn	2022-23 Outturn	2023-24 Plan	2024-25 Plan
A: GLD (Net)	(5,592)	4,323	(3,989)	(12,015)	(11,127)	2,180	2,101
B: AGO (Net)	5,008	5,551	5,712	6,492	6,066	6,453	6,628
C: HMCPSI (Net)	2,209	2,359	2,673	2,754	2,768	3,070	3,134
D: Provisions (Net)	(1,527)	388	-	(437)	334	-	-
Total Resources	98	12,621	4,396	(3,206)	(1,959)	11,703	11,863
Total DEL	1,625	12,233	4,396	(2,769)	(2,293)	11,703	11,863
Total AME	(1,527)	388	-	(437)	334	-	-
A: GLD (Net)	5,126	5,027	799	1,588	2,985	2,000	2,676
B: AGO (Net)	146	-	297	222	-	-	-
C: HMCPSI (Net)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total Capital DEL	5,272	5,027	1,096	1,810	2,985	2,000	2,676

Table 2: Administration Budgets

£000	2018-19 Outturn	2019-20 Outturn	2020-21 Outturn	2021-22 Outturn	2022-23 Outturn	2023-24 Plan	2024-25 Plan
A: GLD (Net)	(5,592)	4,323	(3,989)	(12,015)	(11,127)	2,180	2,101
B: AGO (Net)	5,008	5,144	5,460	6,140	5,769	6,188	6,354
C: HMCPSI (Net)	2,209	2,359	2,673	2,754	2,768	3,070	3,134
Total Administration Budget	1,625	11,826	4,144	(3,121)	(2,590)	11,438	11,589
Of which
Staff Costs	167,908	190,295	203,113	209,497	222,172	224,265	237,736
Other Expenditure	71,324	74,077	69,871	78,740	84,100	110,873	112,553
Income	(237,607)	(252,546)	(268,840)	(291,358)	(308,862)	(323,700)	(338,700)

Long term expenditure trends

Planned net expenditure as agreed with HMT is set out in the Expenditure Tables. The Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) Resource funding is to cover the costs of public interest casework (time and disbursements) and the costs of the AGO and HMCPSI. The balance of GLD’s operating costs are recovered from its clients. In setting GLD fixed fees and hourly rates, HMT’s guidance on fees and charges contained within their publication, Managing Public Money is applied.

The DEL Capital funding allows GLD to invest in improving and developing systems to support its business and meet its accommodation needs.

Susanna McGibbon,
Accounting Officer
1 June 2023

The Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons

Opinion on financial statements

I certify that I have audited the financial statements of the HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor (the Department) for the year ended 31 March 2023 under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. The Department comprises the Government Legal Department, the Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate The financial statements comprise the Department’s:

• Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2023;

• Statement of Comprehensive Net Income, Statement of Cash Flows and Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year then ended; and

• the related notes including the significant accounting policies.

The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the financial statements is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards.

In my opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the Department’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and its net operating income for the year then ended; and

• have been properly prepared in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 and HM Treasury directions issued thereunder.

Opinion on regularity

In my opinion, in all material respects:

• the Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply properly presents the outturn against voted Parliamentary control totals for the year ended 31 March 2023 and shows that those totals have not been exceeded; and

• the income and expenditure recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

Basis for opinions

I conducted my audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs UK), applicable law and Practice Note 10 Audit of Financial Statements and Regularity of Public Sector Bodies in the United Kingdom (2022). My responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of my certificate.

Those standards require me and my staff to comply with the Financial Reporting Council’s Revised Ethical Standard 2019. I am independent of the Department in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK. My staff and I have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, I have concluded that the Department’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work I have performed, I have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Department's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

My responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Accounting Officer with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this certificate.

The going concern basis of accounting for the Department is adopted in consideration of the requirements set out in HM Treasury’s Government Financial Reporting Manual, which requires entities to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements where it is anticipated that the services which they provide will continue into the future.

Other information

The other information comprises information included in the Performance Report, Accountability Report and Annex A: Sustainability Report, but does not include the financial statements and my auditor’s certificate and report thereon. The Accounting Officer is responsible for the other information.

My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in my certificate, I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

My responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or my knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact.

I have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters

In my opinion the part of the Remuneration and Staff Report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions made under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.

In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the parts of the Accountability Report subject to audit have been properly prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions made under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000;

• the information given in the Performance and Accountability Reports for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and is in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which I report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, I have not identified material misstatements in the Performance and Accountability Report.

I have nothing to report in respect of the following matters which I report to you if, in my opinion:

• Adequate accounting records have not been kept by the Department or returns adequate for my audit have not been received from branches not visited by my staff; or

• I have not received all of the information and explanations I require for my audit; or

• the financial statements and the parts of the Accountability Report subject to audit are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of remuneration specified by HM Treasury’s Government Financial Reporting Manual have not been made or parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report to be audited is not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• the Governance Statement does not reflect compliance with HM Treasury’s guidance.

Responsibilities of the Accounting Officer for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the Statement of Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities, the Accounting Officer is responsible for:

• maintaining proper accounting records;

• providing the C&AG with access to all information of which management is aware that is relevant to the preparation of the financial statements such as records, documentation and other matters;

• providing the C&AG with additional information and explanations needed for his audit;

• providing the C&AG with unrestricted access to persons within the Department from whom the auditor determines it necessary to obtain audit evidence;

• ensuring such internal controls are in place as deemed necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements to be free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error;

• ensuring that the financial statements give a true and fair view and are prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions made under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000;

• ensuring that the annual report, which includes the Remuneration and Staff Report, is prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions made under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000; and

• assessing the Department’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Accounting Officer anticipates that the services provided by the Department will not continue to be provided in the future.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

My responsibility is to audit, certify and report on the financial statements in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.

My objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a certificate that includes my opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud

I design procedures in line with my responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud. The extent to which my procedures are capable of detecting non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud is detailed below.

Identifying and assessing potential risks related to non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, I:

• considered the nature of the sector, control environment and operational performance including the design of the Department’s accounting policies, key performance indicators and performance incentives.

• inquired of management, the Department’s internal audit function and those charged with governance, including obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation relating to the Department’s policies and procedures on:

  • identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations;

  • detecting and responding to the risks of fraud; and

  • the internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations including the Department’s controls relating to the Department’s compliance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, Treasury Solicitor Act 1876, Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate Act 2000, and Managing Public Money.

• inquired of management, the Department’s internal audit function and those charged with governance whether:

  • they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations;

  • they had knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud,

• discussed with the engagement team how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud.

As a result of these procedures, I considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the Department for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas: revenue recognition, posting of unusual journals, complex transactions, bias in accruals estimates. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), I am required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.

I obtained an understanding of the Department’s framework of authority and other legal and regulatory frameworks in which the Department operates. I focused on those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the Department. The key laws and regulations I considered in this context included Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, Managing Public Money, Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Act 2022, Treasury Solicitor Act 1876, Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate Act 2000, employment law, pensions legislation and tax legislation.

Audit response to identified risk

To respond to the identified risks resulting from the above procedures:

• I reviewed the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described above as having direct effect on the financial statements;

• I enquired of management and the Audit and Risk Committee concerning actual and potential litigation and claims;

• I reviewed minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and the Board; and internal audit reports;

• in addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, I tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessed whether the judgements on estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluated the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business; and

• in addressing the risk of fraud through revenue recognition, which was pinpointed to the Government Legal Department, assessing the controls over the preparation of accruals for unbilled time and disbursements, testing the accuracy and cut off of unbilled time and disbursements including tracing to post year end invoices and subsequent cash receipts where appropriate; and undertaking procedures to test the recoverability of the unbilled elements.

I also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential risks of fraud to all engagement team members including internal specialists and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

A further description of my responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of my certificate.

Other auditor’s responsibilities

I am required to obtain appropriate evidence sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply properly presents the outturn against voted Parliamentary control totals and that those totals have not been exceeded. The voted Parliamentary control totals are Departmental Expenditure Limits (Resource and Capital), Annually Managed Expenditure (Resource and Capital), Non-Budget (Resource) and Net Cash Requirement.

I am required to obtain evidence sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the expenditure and income recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

I communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control I identify during my audit.

Report

I have no observations to make on these financial statements.

Gareth Davies
Comptroller and Auditor General

National Audit Office
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road
Victoria
London
SW1W 9SP

Date: 6 June 2023

Financial Statements

Statement of Comprehensive Net Income for the year ended 31 March 2023

				2022-23	2021-22
			Note	£000	£000
Income from sale of goods and services			5	(301,798)	(284,664)
Other operating income			5	(6,719)	(6,477)
Total operating income			5	(308,517)	(291,141)
Staff costs			3	222,469	209,849
Purchase of goods and services			4	24,350	21,565
Rentals under operating leases			4	106	10,011
Non cash items			4	11,279	2,893
Disbursements			4	48,354	43,617
Total operating expenditure				306,558	287,935
Net operating (income)				(1,959)	(3,206)
Total Comprehensive (Income) for the year				(1,959)	(3,206)

All income and expenditure is derived from continuing operations.

The notes on pages 73 to 85 form part of these Accounts.

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2023

		31 March 2023		31 March 2022
	Note	£000	£000	£000	£000
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment	6	6,717		5,930
Intangible assets	7	172		351
Right of use assets	8	29,084		-
Total non-current assets		35,973		6,281
Current assets
Trade and other receivables	10	47,465		45,729
Cash and cash equivalents	11	12,465		27,045
Total current assets		59,930		72,774
Total assets			95,903		79,055
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	12	(48,431)		(64,146)
Lease liabilities	13	(7,295)		-
Provisions	14	(517)		(63)
Total current liabilities		(56,243)		(64,209)
Non-current assets plus net current assets			39,660		14,846
Non-current liabilities
Lease liabilities	13	(20,218)		-
Provisions	14	(268)		(388)
Total non-current liabilities			(20,486)		(388)
Total assets less liabilities			19,174		14,458
Taxpayers’ equity and other reserves
General fund			19,174		14,458
Total equity			19,174		14,458

The notes on pages 73 to 85 form part of these Accounts.

Susanna McGibbon,
Accounting Officer
1 June 2023

Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2023

	Note	2022-23 £000	2021-22 £000
Cash flows from operating activities
Net operating income	2	1,959	3,206
Adjustments for non-cash transactions arising in the year	4	11,279	2,893
(Increase)/Decrease in trade and other receivables	10	(1,736)	1,130
Increase/(Decrease) in trade and other payables*	12	(1,128)	5,806
IFRS 16: impact of adoption		(1,023)	-
Use of provisions		(66)	-
Net cash outflow from operating activities		9,285	13,035
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment	6	(2,926)	(1,851)
Purchase of intangible assets	7	-	-
Net cash outflow from investing activities		(2,926)	(1,851)
Cash flows from financing activities
From the Consolidated Fund (Supply) – current year		15,316	14,183
IFRS 16: payment of lease liabilities		(9,210)	-
Contingencies Fund advance (to support working capital)		25,000	25,000
Repayment of Contingencies Fund advance		(25,000)	(25,000)
Net Financing		(6,106)	14,183
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents in the period	11	12,465	25,367
Payment of amounts due to the Consolidated Fund		(27,045)	-
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period	11	27,045	1,678
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	11	12,465	27,045

*The movement on payables excludes movements in payables relating to items not passing through the Statement of Comprehensive Net Income such as departmental balances with the Consolidated Fund or lease liabilities

The notes on pages 73 to 85 form part of these Accounts.

Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2023

	Note	General Fund £000	Total Reserves £000
Balance at 31 March 2021		22,351	22,351
Changes in taxpayer's equity for 2021-22
Net parliamentary funding – drawn down		14,183	14,183
Net parliamentary funding – deemed	11	1,678	1,678
Excess cash payable to the Consolidated Fund	12	(27,045)	(27,045)
Comprehensive net income for the year	2	3,206	3,206
Non-cash adjustments:
Auditors’ remuneration	4	85	85
Total recognised income for 2021-22		(7,893)	(7,893)
Balance at 31 March 2022 (as previously reported)		14,458	14,458
Impact of IFRS 16 adoption		(190)	(190)
Balance at 1st April 2022		14,268	14,268
Changes in taxpayer’s equity for 2022-23
Net parliamentary funding – drawn down		15,316	15,316
Net parliamentary funding – deemed	11	27,045	27,045
Payment to Consolidated Fund	11	(27,045)	(27,045)
Supply payable/(receivable) adjustment	12	(12,465)	(12,465)
Comprehensive net income for the year	2	1,959	1,959
Non-cash adjustments:
Auditors’ remuneration	4	96	96
Total recognised expenditure for 2022-23		4,906	4,906
Balance at 31 March 2023		19,174	19,174

The General Fund represents the total assets less liabilities of each of the entities within the accounting boundary, to the extent that the total is not represented by other reserves and financing items.

The notes on pages 73 to 85 form part of these Accounts.

Notes to the Accounts

1. Statement of accounting policies

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the 2022-23 Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) issued by HMT. The accounting policies contained in the FReM apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adapted or interpreted for the public sector context. Where the FReM permits a choice of accounting policy, the accounting policy which is judged to be most appropriate to the particular circumstances of the department for the purpose of giving a true and fair view has been selected. The particular policies adopted by the department are described below. They have been applied consistently in dealing with items considered material in relation to the Accounts.

In common with other government departments, the future financing of the department’s liabilities is to be met by future grants of Supply and the application of future income, both to be approved annually by Parliament. After making enquiries, the Accounting Officer has a reasonable expectation that the department has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for a period of at least 12 months from the date the financial statements are authorised for issue.

The going concern basis of accounting for the department is adopted in consideration of the requirements set out in HM Treasury’s Government Reporting Manual, which requires entities to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements where it is anticipated that the services which they provide will continue into the future. For the above reasons it has been considered appropriate to adopt a going concern basis for the preparation of these financial statements.

1.1 Accounting convention

These Accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention and where material modified to account for the revaluation of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets at their value to the business by reference to their current costs.

1.2 Basis of consolidation

The Accounts comprise a consolidation of those entities that fall within the departmental boundary as defined by the FReM. Transactions between entities included in the consolidation are eliminated. A list of all entities within the departmental boundary is given at Note 18. There is no 'parent' department and separate financial statements are prepared for the Government Legal Department (GLD). The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) are not required to produce financial statements; therefore only a group SOCNE and SOFP are produced.

1.3 Significant judgments and estimates

The judgments applied to non-current asset balances with regard to asset lives and impairment reviews are set out in the separate accounting policies on these assets.

Most of the larger accruals included in the accounts within the working capital balances are routine and are based on system data rather than being the result of estimates or judgments applied by management. The main exception to this is the accrual included for legal disbursement costs yet to be invoiced to the department. As most of these costs are recharged to the department's clients both an expenditure and income accrual are included in the financial statements (£6.5m and £6.4m respectively), so the overall impact on net operating income is largely neutral. The accrual is based on an estimate of the level of outstanding disbursements costs at the financial year-end using historical transaction data. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Provision balances are also subject to management estimates on the level of leasehold dilapidations. These balances are not currently significant. The value of untaken annual leave is also estimated on the basis of HR records and staff cost averages.

1.4 Income

Income relates directly to the operating activities of the department. It principally comprises fees and charges for legal services provided during the year by GLD to the other central government departments, agencies and arm's length bodies and recovery of disbursements incurred on their behalf. Fees and charges are set in accordance with HMT’s guidance set out in Managing Public Money.

In addition, it includes other income such as charges for the administration costs of the Bona Vacantia Division, rental income and service charge relating to tenants of GLD and the AGO, recovery of costs for recruitment and training services provided to other government departments.

This income has been recognised as follows in line with IFRS 15 principles:

• Fees for legal services which are charged as a fixed annual fee for the service provided in that year have been recognised in full for that financial year on the basis that when the year comes to an end the service has been fully provided.

• Fees for legal services which are charged on an hourly basis for provision of advice/casework have been recognised in line with the hours recorded by staff on chargeable work.

• Fees charged to recover costs incurred by GLD where it has been agreed that these will be passed straight onto customers are recognised in line with when those costs have been recognised by GLD.

Work in progress is recognised as operating income as incurred. This represents unbilled time charges which are valued at the appropriate rate, for the financial year in which the work was undertaken and the accrued cost of disbursements.

1.5 Property, plant and equipment

Assets are carried at current value in existing use using depreciated historic cost as a proxy. The need for impairment is considered on an annual basis. Expenditure on plant, property and equipment over £5,000 is capitalised on an individual or group basis. On initial recognition they are measured at cost including any costs (such as installation) directly attributable to bringing them into working condition.

The policy on right of use assets is disclosed in Note 1.11.

1.6 Depreciation

Plant, property and equipment are depreciated at rates calculated to write them down on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives. Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the term of the lease.

Assets under construction are not depreciated until they are in use. Once in use they are depreciated over their expected useful life.

Asset lives are normally within the following ranges:

• Leasehold improvements - limited to period remaining on lease (up to five years)

• Right of use leasehold buildings - limited to period remaining on lease (up to five years)

• Furniture and fittings - 3, 5 or 10 years

• ICT network - 3 to 5 years

1.7 Intangible Assets

Purchased and internally developed software, purchased software licences and website costs are capitalised as intangible assets and are valued at depreciated historic cost as a proxy for fair value. The need for impairment is considered on an annual basis.

Intangible assets under construction are not amortised until they are in use. Once they are in use, they are amortised over the life of the associated project or their expected useful economic life. Asset lives are normally within the following ranges:

• Software development - 3 to 5 years

• Software licences - 3 to 5 years

• Website costs - 5 years

1.8 Debt recovery

All aged debt is regularly reviewed to ascertain the continuing prospect of recovery and that it remains economical to continue to pursue recovery. Where recovery is considered doubtful or uneconomic, the department will provide for or write-off the debt by reducing the value of debtors within the statement of financial position.

1.9 Pensions

Past and present employees are covered by the provisions of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS). The defined benefit schemes are unfunded and are non-contributory except in respect of dependants’ benefits. This is a multi-employer scheme and it is not possible to separate the assets and liabilities, and is therefore accounted for in the same manner as defined contribution schemes. The department recognises the expected cost of providing pensions on a systematic and rational basis over the period during which it benefits from employees’ services by payment to the PCSPS of amounts calculated on an accruing basis. Liability for payment of future benefits is a charge on the PCSPS. In respect of the defined contribution schemes, the department recognises the contributions payable for the year.

1.10 Contingent Liabilities

Contingent liabilities are disclosed, where applicable, in the notes to the Accounts in accordance with IAS 37. Remote contingent liabilities that are not required to be disclosed by IAS 37 but are required to be reported to Parliament, where applicable, are included in the Accountability Report.

1.11 Leases

IFRS 16 “Leases” introduces a single lessee accounting model, removing the distinction between operating and finance leases and requiring a lessee to recognise 'right of use' assets and liabilities for all leases (apart from the exemptions included below). For government bodies reporting under the FReM, IFRS 16 was implemented on 1 April 2022 and replaces IAS 17 (Leases).

The department's leasing activities relate to being a lessee in respect of buildings occupied for operational purposes.

Implementation and assumptions

The department has applied IFRS 16 using the modified retrospective approach and therefore the comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under IAS 17 “Leases” and IFRIC 4 “Determining whether an arrangement contains a lease”. The cumulative effect of adopting IFRS 16 is included as an adjustment to taxpayers' equity at the beginning of the current period. IAS 17 operating leases are now included within the Statement of Financial Position as a lease liability within payables and right of use assets within non-current assets.

The option to reassess whether a contract is, or contains, a lease at the date of initial application has not been used, the group has used the practical expedient detailed in IFRS 16.

The definition of a contract is expanded to include intra-UK government agreements where non-performance may not be enforceable by law. This includes, for example, Memorandum of Terms of Occupation (MOTO) agreements.

The department has elected not to recognise right of use assets and lease liabilities for the following leases:

• intangible assets;

• non-lease components of contracts where applicable;

• low value assets (these are determined to be in line with capitalisation thresholds on Property, Plant and Equipment); and

• leases with a lease term of 12 months or less.

Policy applicable from 1 April 2022

At inception of a contract, the department assesses whether a contract is, or contains, a lease. A contract is, or contains a lease if the contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration, including whether:

• The contract involves the use of an identified asset;

• The department has the right to obtain substantially all of the economic benefit from the use of the asset throughout the period of use; and

• The department has the right to direct the use of the asset.

The policy is applied to contracts entered into, or changed, on or after 1 April 2022.

The department assesses whether it is reasonably certain to exercise break or extension options at the lease commencement date. The department reassesses this if there are significant events or changes in circumstances that were not anticipated.

As a lessee

Right of use assets
The department recognises a right of use asset and lease liability at the commencement date. The right of use asset is initially measured at cost, which comprises the initial amount of the lease liability. The right of use assets are subsequently measured at current value in existing use in line with property, plant and equipment assets, using cost as a proxy for fair value as significant market fluctuations are not anticipated. The right of use asset is depreciated using the straight line method from the commencement date to the end of the lease term. The department applies IAS 36 Impairment of Assets to determine whether the right of use asset is impaired and to account for any impairment loss identified.

Lease liabilities
The lease liability is initially measured at the present value of the lease payments that are not paid at the commencement date, discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease, or if that cannot be readily determined, the rate provided by HM Treasury (HMT). All leases in the department account have been discounted using the HMT discount rate. Leases in the department’s accounts that commenced and were adopted into IFRS 16 before 1st January 2023 are discounted using the HMT discount rate of 0.95%. Leases entered into after 1 January 2023 are discounted using the HMT discount rate of 3.51%.

The lease payment is measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. It is re-measured when there is a change in future lease payments or if the department changes its assessment of whether it will exercise an extension or break option.

As a lessor
The department does not act as a lessor.

Impact on financial statements
On transition to IFRS 16, the department recognised an additional £34.3m of right of use assets and £33.5m of lease liabilities, representing an increase in equity of £0.8m. The department also wrote back a prepayment for rent recognised under IAS 17 which represented a decease in equity of £1.0m. The net impact of these two adjustments was a reduction of £190k and was recognised as an adjustment to the General Fund.

1.12 Taxation

Where VAT is recoverable by the department, amounts are included net of VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in operating costs and capital additions. The amount due to or from HM Revenue and Customs in respect of VAT is included within debtors or creditors as appropriate. Operating income is stated net of VAT.

1.13 Third Party Assets

The department holds various funds on behalf of its clients. These relate to ongoing legal processes. These balances are not recognised in the Statement of Financial Position but are disclosed in Note 17 to these Accounts.

1.14 IFRS issued but not yet effective

IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts is effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. It is not expected to have an impact on the financial statements of the department.

2. Statement of operating costs by operating segment

The department’s reportable segments are as follows:

• Government Legal Department (GLD)

• Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

• HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI)

Management monitors the operating results of the three entities separately for the purpose of making decisions about resources to be allocated and of assessing performance. Each entity’s performance is evaluated against the Voted Funds. GLD’s services are described in the Annual Report.

2022-23	GLD	AGO	HMCPSI	Eliminations	Consolidated
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Income and Expenditure
Revenues
Third Party	(308,340)	(177)	-	-	(308,517)
Inter-segment	(522)	(90)	-	612	-
Total Revenues	(308,862)	(267)	-	612	(308,517)
Gross Expenditure	298,105	5,872	2,581	-	306,558
Inter-segment	30	395	187	(612)	-
Net Operating Income	(10,727)	6,000	2,768	-	(1,959)

Income primarily relates to fees and charges for legal services provided during the year to clients from central government departments, agencies and ALBs. Government is treated as a single customer and therefore no further disclosure has been included.

2021-22	GLD	AGO	HMCPSI	Eliminations	Consolidated
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Income and Expenditure
Revenues
Third Party	(291,106)	(35)	-	-	(291,141)
Inter-segment	(127)	(90)	-	217	-
Total Revenues	(291,233)	(125)	-	217	(291,141)
Gross Expenditure	279,188	6,180	2,567	-	287,935
Inter-segment	30	-	187	(217)	-
Net Operating Income	(12,015)	6,055	2,754	-	(3,206)

3. Staff Costs

Staff costs comprise:

				2022-23	2021-22
	Permanently employed staff	Others	Ministers	Total	Total
	£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
Wages and salaries	144,399	-	155	144,554	136,938
Social security costs	17,291	-	20	17,311	15,602
Other pension costs	38,535	-	-	38,535	36,804
Sub Total	200,225	-	175	200,400	189,344
Agency and contracted staff	-	21,580	-	21,580	19,977
Inward secondments	-	489	-	489	528
Total	200,225	22,069	175	222,469	209,849

No staff costs have been charged to capital.

4. Other Expenditure

	2022-23	2021-22
Total Other Expenditure	£000	£000
Disbursements	48,354	43,617
Rentals under operating leases	106	10,011
Purchase of goods and services:
IT and communications costs	7,394	5,965
Accommodation	5,267	4,467
Library information services	3,286	3,309
Training	2,057	1,787
Recruitment	1,807	1,458
Other	4,539	4,579
Non-cash items:
Depreciation	10,223	2,857
Amortisation	179	388
IFRS 16: Interest expense	357	-
Provisions not required written back	-	(437)
Increase in provisions	400	-
Loss on disposal	24
External auditors’ remuneration*	96	85
Total Other Expenditure	84,089	78,086

*External auditors’ remuneration represents the notional audit fees of £96k (2021-22 £85k) for the Departmental Resource Account, and Government Legal Department Account. No non-audit services were provided during the financial year.

5. Income

Analysis of income by classification and activity

	2022-23 £000	2021-22 £000
Income from sales of goods and services:
Legal fees and charges to clients	255,997	243,259
Disbursements	44,297	39,921
LION subscription	1,504	1,484
	301,798	284,664
Recovery of costs from Bona Vacantia	4,717	4,865
Recovery of secondments out	532	164
Other income	1,470	1,448
	6,719	6,477
Total income	308,517	291,141

Income is shown net of inter-group transactions between GLD, AGO and HMCPSI.

6. Property, plant and equipment

	Leasehold improvements £000	ICT Network £000	Furniture and Fittings £000	2022-23Total £000
Cost or Valuation
At 1 April 2022	5,183	8,267	2,276	15,726
Additions	-	2,670	249	2,919
Disposals	(586)	(2,195)	(86)	(2,867)
At 31 March 2023	4,597	8,742	2,439	15,778
Depreciation
At 1 April 2022	2,774	6,024	998	9,796
Charge in year	470	1,374	288	2,132
Disposals	(586)	(2,195)	(86)	(2,867)
At 31 March 2023	2,658	5,203	1,200	9,061
Carrying amount at 31 March 2023	1,939	3,539	1,239	6,717
Asset Financing
Owned	1,939	3,539	1,239	6,717
Leased	-	-	-	-
At 31 March 2023	1,939	3,539	1,239	6,717

	Leasehold improvements £000	ICT Network £000	Furniture and Fittings £000	2021-22Total £000
Cost or Valuation
At 1 April 2021	5,005	6,689	2,222	13,916
Additions	178	1,578	54	1,810
At 31 March 2022	5,183	8,267	2,276	15,726
Depreciation
At 1 April 2021	1,873	4,478	588	6,939
Charge in year	901	1,546	410	2,857
At 31 March 2022	2,774	6,024	998	9,796
Carrying amount at 31 March 2022	2,409	2,243	1,278	5,930
Asset Financing
Owned	2,409	2,243	1,278	5,930
At 31 March 2022	2,409	2,243	1,278	5,930

Cash flow analysis for property, plant and equipment	2022-23 £000	2021-22 £000
Property, plant and equipment additions excluding right of use asset	2,919	1,810
Movement in accruals for property, plant and equipment	7	41
Cash flows for property, plant and equipment	2,926	1,851

7. Intangible assets

	Software licences £000	2022-23 Total £000
Cost or Valuation
At 1 April 2022	1,602	1,602
Disposals	(831)	(831)
At 31 March 2023	771	771
Amortisation
At 1 April 2022	1,251	1,251
Charge in year	179	179
Disposals	(831)	(831)
At 31 March 2023	599	599
Carrying amount at 31 March 2023	172	172

	Software licences £000	2021-22 Total £000
Costs or Valuation
At 1 April 2021	1,602	1,602
Additions	-	-
At 31 March 2022	1,602	1,602
Amortisation
At 1 April 2021	863	863
Charge in year	388	388
At 31 March 2022	1,251	1,251
Carrying amount at 31 March 2022	351	351

8. Right of use assets

	Right of use buildings £000	2022-23 Total £000
Cost or Valuation
At 1 April 2022 on adoption	37,109	37,109
Additions	343	343
Disposals	(393)	(393)
At 31 March 2023	37,059	37,059
Depreciation
At 1 April 2022	-	-
Charge in year	8,091	8,091
Disposal	(116)	(116)
At 31 March 2023	7,975	7,975
Carrying amount at 31 March 2023	29,084	29,084

9. Financial Instruments

As the cash requirements of the department are primarily met from income from clients (other government departments) and a limited amount through the Estimates process, financial instruments play a more limited role in creating risk than would apply to a non-public sector body of a similar size. The majority of financial instruments relate to contracts to buy in non-financial items in line with the department’s expected purchase and usage requirements and the department is therefore exposed to little credit, liquidity or market risk.

10. Trade receivables and other current assets

Analysis by type

	31 March 2023 £000	31 March 2022 £000
Amounts falling due within one year:
Unbilled time	8,304	7,659
Unbilled disbursements	11,997	10,433
Trade receivables	20,749	23,513
Deposits and advances	269	197
Prepayments and accrued income	6,146	3,927
	47,465	45,729

11. Cash and cash equivalents

	2022-23 £000	2021-22 £000
Balance at 1 April	27,045	1,678
Payments of amounts due to Consolidated Fund	(27,045)	-
Net change in cash and cash equivalents	12,465	25,367
Balance at 31 March	12,465	27,045

All balances were held with the Government Banking Service.

12. Trade payables and other current liabilities

Analysis by type

	31 March 2023 £000	31 March 2022 £000
Amounts falling due within one year:
VAT	9,181	9,806
Other taxation and social security costs	4,383	4,265
Trade payables	69	23
Other payables	128	153
Accruals and deferred income	22,205	22,854
Sub total	35,966	37,101
Excess cash surrenderable to the Consolidated Fund	12,465	27,045
Total current payables and other current liabilities	48,431	64,146

13. IFRS 16 Lease Liability

	2022-23 £000	2021-22 £000
Balance at 1 April on adoption	36,276	-
Lease additions	341	-
Lease disposal	(251)	-
Lease payments made	(9,210)	-
Interest expense	357	-
Balance at 31 March	27,513	-
Obligations for the following periods comprise:
Not later than one year	7,295	-
Later than one year and non later than 5 years	20,218	-
Later than 5 years	-	-
Current	7,295	-
Non-current	20,218	-
Reported IAS 17 commitments under leases at 31 March 2022	37,358
Adjustment for discounting of future cashflows	(1,082)
IFRS 16 lease liability at 1st April 2022	36,276

14. Provisions for liabilities and charges

	Other	Dilapidations	2022-23 Total	2021-22 Total
			£000	£000
Balance at 1 April	-	451	451	888
Utilisation of provision	-	(66)	(66)	-
Provided in year	400	-	400	(437)
Balance at 31 March	400	385	785	451

Analysis of expected timing of cash flows	2022-23	2021-22
	Total £000	Total £000
Not later than one year	517	63
Later than one year and not later than five years	268	388
Later than five years and not later than ten years	-	-
	785	451

15. Contingent liabilities

There were no contingent liabilities as at 31 March 2023 (31 March 2022: £nil).

16. Related party transactions

The department has had a significant number of material transactions with other government departments and public agencies since the nature of the department’s business is to provide legal services to central government. The Treasury Solicitor, by virtue of the Treasury Solicitor Act 1876, is also the Crown’s Nominee (see Annual Report).

None of the Board members, or key managerial staff has undertaken any material transactions with the department during the year. Board members’ remuneration is disclosed in the Remuneration Report.

17. Third party assets: client monies

Funds are required in advance from clients to enable settlement of awards for damages and contributions toward the cost of court proceedings. The department places these funds on deposit until the final costs of a case have been calculated and settled. These are not departmental assets, these are accounted for as funds held on behalf of third parties and as a consequence do not appear in the these Accounts. As at 31 March 2023, these amounted in total to £12,996k (31 March 2022: £14,654k). An analysis of the movements on these funds is shown in the table below:

	2022-23	2021-22
	£000	£000
Opening balance at 1 April	14,654	12,183
Gross inflows	187,501	163,274
Gross outflows	(189,159)	(160,803)
Closing balance at 31 March	12,996	14,654

These balances are held with the Government Banking Service.

18. Entities within the departmental boundary

The entities within the boundary during 2022-23 were as follows:

Supply-financed agencies:
Government Legal Department (GLD)

Non-Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies:
None

Other entities:
Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI)

The Annual Report and Accounts of the Government Legal Department are published separately.

19. Events after the reporting period

In accordance with the requirements of IAS 10, events after the reporting period are considered up to the date on which the Accounts are authorised for issue. This is interpreted as the date of the Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. There are none to report.

Annex A: Sustainability Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Overall Greening Government Commitments Performance

GLD’s strategy for sustainability is to improve its performance against the Greening Government Commitments (GGC) 2021-25, and more broadly to play a part in the wider civil service initiatives that contribute to meeting the UK’s carbon neutral targets by 2050.

In January 2021, the Board adopted a 10-point Action Plan proposed by staff-led network Greener GLD, which included actions to meet and exceed the Greening Government Commitments and to consider a sustainability audit.

In March 2022, the Government Internal Audit Agency produced a sustainability report following a review of sustainability within GLD. The report recommendations included: the recruitment and appointment of a sustainability lead; the development and adoption of a long-term sustainability strategy, and; regular sustainability reporting outside of the annual reporting cycle. GLD has since recruited a sustainability lead, there is work underway on improving and instituting regular sustainability reporting, and the Board has adopted a Sustainability Strategy 2023-2024 to mainstream sustainability into decision-making in GLD and enable GLD to do its utmost to be part of the solution to the climate and biodiversity loss crises in line with the Government’s commitment to be net zero by 2050.

GLD recognises that taking action related to sustainability is not only crucial to ensure that the Government meets its net zero objectives, but that it is a key priority for colleagues at every level. The staff-led Greener GLD Network is the largest staff network, whose aim is to work to instigate positive change at an individual, organisational and institutional level to combat the climate and biodiversity loss crises. GLD values and supports the work of the Greener GLD Network, and will continue to work closely with the Greener GLD Network to ensure that colleagues’ sustainability-related concerns are taken into account as it works towards improving the sustainability of the organisation.

Scope of reporting

Performance reported is in line with the minimum reporting requirements for Greening Government Commitments (data for previous 4 years plus the 2017-18 baseline). Where a GGC measure is not applicable to GLD, this has been stated.

GLD, AGO and HMCPIS are minor tenants in all buildings occupied and therefore are not the key decision makers with regard to most areas covered by GGC However, as in previous years, in excess of minimum reporting requirements, the department has attempted to report data for the department's share of occupied buildings where that data is available.

Most data included is only available at a building level as there is not separate meterage in place for sub-tenants, so the data has been apportioned based on occupation percentage. The only data included which is based on departmental actuals rather than an apportionment, is in respect of Scope 3 Emissions (expenditure on business travel) and paper consumption where records from the internal print room have been used.

The data reported covers occupancy at the GLD/AGO/HMCPSI central London office 102 Petty France. Data hasn't been included for the GLD conference centre at Queen Anne’s Gate, the GLD office space in Bristol, Croydon or occupancy at Wellington Place in Leeds. GLD is a minor tenant in these buildings and therefore the major occupier/leaseholder should report data for these sites.

The following reporting areas set out in the minimum reporting requirements are not applicable to the department:

• Nature Recovery and Biodiversity action planning - no significant natural capital or landholdings are held.

• Sustainable Construction - no construction or refurbishment projects have been undertaken during the reporting period.

• Scope 1 Emissions (Direct) – GLD, AGO and HMCPSI occupy shared buildings so energy usage is indirect.

• Travel Car Fleet – GLD does not own, hire or lease car fleets.

Waste minimisation and management		Baseline 2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Non-Financial Indicators (tonnes)	Non-recycled	-	-	1	-	7	7
	Reused/recycled	126	90	163	35	1	46
	Energy Recovery	26	26	36	6	2	1
	Total Waste	152	116	200	41	10	54
Financial indicators (£)	Total Disposal Cost	29,986	26,195	29,526	7,154	4,526	8,640

Performance Commentary: The GGC waste target is to reduce the overall amount of waste generated by 15% from the 2017-18 baseline.

Overall waste has been lower for 2022-23 primarily due to the reduced occupancy at GLD sites. Most waste is recycled.

Single Use Plastics: GLD/AGO/HMCPSI does not run any catering establishments or consumer venues selling products which may include single use plastics; however, staff are able to use catering facilities provided in shared buildings. Recycling facilities are provided in the buildings occupied.

Reducing Environmental Impacts from ICT and Digital: In 2022-23, GLD issued a 2 year contract with a contractor for ICT disposal, who are compliant with ISO14001 and WEEE directive 2006, and have also been accredited for their recycling facility which is fully accredited by the Environmental Agency and awarded a Distinction from ADISA for the safe recycling of broken obsolete and unusable IT equipment. Since the contract has been let, GLD has disposed of 120 broken or obsolete monitors, numerous faulty keyboards, and mice, and had 476 items of IT equipment collected. Of this, the plastic material recycled was the equivalent of 67,000 plastic bottles, and recycling recovered 794 grams of lead and 1,340g of cadmium.

In 2022 GLD decided to offer retired laptops for resale to staff rather than issue for recycling and have already provided over 200 to staff. The department also embarked on regular business reviews with the managed printer service provider who now provide the department with sustainability reporting on items such as the number of toner cartridges sent for recycling, avoiding waste print and how that equates to water saved and CO2 saved.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions		Baseline 2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Non-Financial Indicators (tCO2e)	Gross Emissions Scope 2 - Energy indirect	1,639	1,598	1,781	636	460	212
	Gross Emissions Scope 3 - Official Business Travel	109	153	167	30	9	29
	Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions	1,748	1,751	1,948	666	469	241
Related Energy Consumption (KWh)	Electricity	2,709,329	2,688,442	4,086,100	2,206,899	1,309,247	1,095,799
	Gas	-	-	629,159	418,448	440,431	417,245
	Oil	867,035	707,433	219,684	-	-	-
Financial Indicators (£)	Total Expenditure on Energy	331,441	584,592	672,193	333,033	473,440	377,463
	Expenditure on official business travel	542,987	803,787	698,992	224,381	107,266	403,565

Performance commentary:

The GGC is to:

Reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions from a 2017-18 baseline and also reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions from estate and operations from a 2017-18 baseline, working towards net zero by 2050.

Overall emissions (tCO2e) have fallen 86% below baseline.

Finite resource consumption		Baseline 2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Non Financial Indicators	Water consumption (m3)	8,911	7,087	6,057	2,124	674	1,953
	Paper Consumption (A4 Reams)	28,891	32,100	12,255	1,949	2,785	5,829
Financial indicators (£)	Water Supply and Disposal Cost	20,351	16,242	10,916	5,642	4,296	1,337

Performance Commentary: The GGC targets are to: - Reduce water consumption by at least 8% from the 2017-18 baseline - There is a sub-target to reduce government’s paper use by at least 50% from a 2017-18 baseline. Paper consumption is 80% below the baseline due to staff making greater use of digital formats. Water consumption is 78% below the baseline for 2017-18.

Performance Commentary:

The GGC targets are to:

• Reduce water consumption by at least 8% from the 2017-18 baseline

• There is a sub-target to reduce government’s paper use by at least 50% from a 2017-18 baseline.

Paper consumption is 80% below the baseline due to staff making greater use of digital formats.

Water consumption is 78% below the baseline for 2017-18.

Sustainable Procurement

The GGC also promotes the procurement of sustainable and efficient products whilst, reducing the impact of the supply chain on the environment. This includes embedding efficient procurement practices and improving and publishing data on supply chain impact.

The overall procurement strategy principally includes the use of Crown Commercial Service framework contracts and the department is subject to the Sustainability Policy that it operates.

GLD promotes sustainability in procurement by:

• working closely with its suppliers to improve sustainable processes and the use of products;

• buying products and services which are less environmentally damaging; for instance, the use of “thin client” units which use less energy than conventional ‘base unit’ desktop computers;

• complying with environmental legislation and regulatory requirements including relevant environmental conditions or criteria in specifications and tender documents, and evaluating supplier offers accordingly; and

• raising awareness of environmental issues within the department, and amongst suppliers and contractors.