Rowena Collins-Rice
Director-General of the Attorney General’s Office
What were your biggest policy & delivery challenges in 2013, and how did you handle them?
Any busy and ambitious government programme will always need the attention and support of the law officers, and our advisory team have had some tough nuts to crack this year. On the operational side, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in potential ‘unduly lenient’ sentence cases coming in to be considered for referral to the Court of Appeal, particularly historic sex abuse cases. That’s partly about increased public awareness of our role, and partly because when we do refer a case, the court has almost always agreed with us and increased the sentence. This work is making a difference to how the public, especially victims and their families, see justice fully done in the most serious criminal cases, but it is fast-paced and demanding.
We are a very small and multi-functional team, so it’s a challenge to keep up with demand. But AGO staff are among the most highly engaged in Whitehall, and that’s how we do what we do.
Where have you made the most progress in implementing the Civil Service Reform plan, and what are you reform priorities for 2014?
We’re making learning and skills a big priority at the moment and will carry that into the new year. It’s been great to see some really high-impact stuff being devised by our own people for each other, and by drawing on our network of supportive contacts and brilliant colleagues around Whitehall and in the legal world. It’s been a rich mix of visits, talks, exchanges, secondments, lunchtime courses, on the job training and more. And it’s been a two-way process, so people are learning by both giving and receiving development activities.
What are your key challenges in the last year of the Parliament? How will you tackle them?
We’re on action standby to help departments clear up legal issues quickly and get their business done in this important last full year – both in Parliament, and outside it. We know of quite a few issues coming our way already, and are putting in place new arrangements for closer and more sustained working with legal colleagues around government, so we have better early warning systems and are really clear about the legal issues that are important to them. That way, we’ll not only be better prepared to help, but we’ll also be able to spot any patterns emerging in the legal challenges government faces. The new shared legal service arrangements in government provide huge opportunities here too, for better connections and a stronger response. It’s important that we make the most of that, as our litigation work, especially on the criminal law side of our business, shows every sign of continuing to build in volume and profile.
What would you most like Santa to bring you this year? And what should he take away?
We’ve all been very good boys and girls at the AGO this year, and we’ve written some lovely letters. So our hopes are high of satsumas and chocolate coins all round, and maybe good things from Strasbourg (iced gingerbread) and Luxembourg (candied plums and nougat).
I’m told the AGO Christmas party is quite an event – unsurprisingly, since it’s all completely organised, catered and paid for by ourselves. Since I’m on the clearing up team, I’d appreciate Santa taking away the binbags afterwards.