Caroline Ansell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Ansell on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Attorney General, what training the Law Officers’ Departments have provided to staff on the family test; what other steps he has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of the Law Officers’ Departments; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland

The Government Legal Department provides training to all lawyers within the Government Legal Service, Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, and hosted a training session on the legal implications of The Family Test in May 2015. While training places were prioritised for lawyers advising the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), all government lawyers were eligible to apply.

In addition, the training committee within the DWP legal advisers will consider the inclusion of further training on The Family Test in response to any further needs identified.

The Serious Fraud Office and Crown Prosecution Service are not directly involved in frontline policy development and whilst they are aware of the published DWP guidance on applying the test, no specific training has been deemed necessary at this stage. However, they would of course apply the test should the need arise.