Working for the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel: Helen Hall
Updated 7 July 2023
© Crown copyright 2023
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-for-the-office-of-the-parliamentary-counsel/working-for-the-office-of-the-parliamentary-counsel-helen-hall
I joined the Office of Parliamentary Counsel after spending several years working as a legal advisor in various government departments. During that time the part of my job that I most enjoyed was instructing Parliamentary Counsel to draft legislation. I was hugely impressed by the ability of each drafter with whom I worked to turn my rather vague and incomplete descriptions of the government’s policy into clear and precise legal propositions. When the opportunity came to join the Office, I couldn’t wait to have a go at drafting myself.
I soon learned that the job is difficult. It requires huge amounts of concentration together with an ability to get to grips quickly with unfamiliar areas of law and to pay close attention to detail without losing sight of the bigger picture. I was initially surprised by how much creativity is required, for example, when thinking about the best structure for the new legislation. We aim to draft something that not only works from a legal point of view, but is also readily accessible and fits well with the neighbouring legal landscape. It can be quite daunting when a new set of instructions comes in, and you have to decide where in the story your draft should begin.
Despite - or perhaps because of - these challenges, the job is great fun. We very often work in pairs. This means that we can act as a sounding board for each other and comment on each other’s drafts before exposing them to a wider audience. The ethos of the Office makes for a very collaborative working style. There are many different avenues for sharing knowledge, but perhaps most importantly for a new joiner, I have never worked anywhere before where the most senior staff are so willing to give up their time to share their learning and experience with those more junior to them.
I have always worked part time, combining my career with bringing up four children. My working pattern has changed over the years: currently I work the equivalent of 4 days, but spread my hours over 5 days. As with any professional job, there are sometimes pinch points in the flow of work, but this arrangement seems to work well on all sides. I’ve been in the Office now for nearly 8 years, and never once regretted the move here.