HC Deb 03 April 1913 vol 51 cc564-5
94. Mr. JONATHAN SAMUEL

asked if the Chancellor of the Exchequer will inform the House how the present salaries of the Attorney- and Solicitor-Generals were fixed, and state the amount of such salaries; and whether they are allowed to charge fees on all contentious business in addition to their salaries?

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE

The salaries of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General for England are £7,000 and £6,000 a year, respectively; they are fixed by Treasury Minute of the 5th July, 1895, which is still in force. For the conditions under which the Law Officers are paid fees in respect of contentious business in addition to their salaries, I would refer my hon. Friend to the Treasury Minute I have quoted, which was published as House of Commons Paper, No. 431, of 1895, Session 2, on the Motion of the late Mr. Hanbury, then Financial Secretary to the Treasury, on the 23rd August, 1895.

Mr. WATT

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether in the year 1895 the Government then in power put a limitation on the income of the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General, and state what that limitation was?

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will put a question on the Paper, and I will refresh my memory. There was a limitation, and the fees are now charged under a Minute of the Unionist Government in 1895.

Mr. JONATHAN SAMUEL

Was not the salary of the Attorney-General fixed at £10,000, and that of the Solicitor-General at £9,000, under the Minute in 1894?

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE

I am not aware of that.