HC Deb 02 December 1996 vol 286 cc666-8
33. Mr. Harry Greenway

To ask the Attorney-General how many people were employed in his Department in each of the past three years; and at what cost in current prices. [5202]

The Solicitor-General

Total staff in the four departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible were 7,117 in the year 1995–96, at a cost of £184 million. In the previous two years the number of staff was 7,346 and 7,322 and costs at current prices were £179 million and £184 million respectively.

Mr. Greenway

Will my hon. and learned Friend confirm that that seems to represent an improvement in productivity? Did any of his officials play any part in granting legal aid to the two young men of 19 to take their former schools to court with a view to suing them for damages for their lack of achievement? Should not the officials have looked at whether those young men worked hard at school and whether there is any explanation in that respect for their lack of achievement, or has my hon. and learned Friend no responsibility at all?

The Solicitor-General

I can confidently acquit my officials of being involved in any such exercise. The allocation of legal aid is a matter for which the Lord Chancellor, not the Law Officers, has ministerial responsibility. All departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible show increased output, and that applies particularly to the Crown Prosecution Service, which we regularly visit at branch level. More lawyers at branch level are putting in more court appearances than ever before.

Mr. Skinner

It is not surprising that, in the year that Asil Nadir was due to go before the court, the 7,000 people in the Department were incapable of keeping him in Britain. He was able to get out on a flight to Cyprus and has never been brought back. Is that not connected to the fact that this same Asil Nadir gave £440,000 of somebody else's money to the Tory party? The party will not disclose those funds, but as they were fraudulently obtained, we would expect the Attorney-General's Department and his 7,000 staff to see to it that Tory central office handed that money back to the shareholders and the customers.

The Solicitor-General

The hon. Gentleman's question is shot through with error—unsurprisingly and as usual. The department responsible for the prosecution of Mr. Nadir was the Serious Fraud Office, which has a total complement of 170 out of the 7,000 plus staff in the Attorney-General's departments. What is more, Mr. Nadir was able to leave the country because he had been granted bail by the court, notwithstanding objections by the SFO and by counsel briefed on its behalf.