I work for the Government Legal Department which, as the largest provider of legal services to government, provides legal advice to most government departments. For some time, I have worked in the Department for Work and Pensions Legal Advisers. I really enjoy knowing that my work for DWP will touch on the lives of so many people – it feels like I can make a real difference in my role as a lawyer.
Although many may think that much of the legislative work of GLD came to a halt during the pre-election period, government lawyers were actually very busy preparing to support incoming ministers, of whatever political party, producing introductions and insights into the work of the department and what we as lawyers are focused on.
During that period, I was working closely with senior officials in DWP’s legislation team on bill bids for the First Session.
We had to respond to a number of Parliamentary Business and Legislation (PBL) commissions. There were commissions arising from the manifestos of the main political parties, asking whether the proposals contained in the manifestos would require primary legislation. There was also a commission asking departments if they had their own bids for primary legislation for changes which they considered administratively desirable. It was fascinating looking at the different commitments being made by the political parties and working out what that would mean for the department and for the country. Each commission had a short turnaround time and so it was all hands on deck! Our collaborative working environment in DWP Legal Advisers helped us meet tricky deadlines.
My role was to ensure that individual DWP lawyers supporting different DWP policy teams were actively engaged in preparations, particularly around completing the legal sections of “bill bid templates” for possible bill measures. Lawyers had to complete the template for those areas for which they were responsible, giving their legal view on matters such as the equality impacts and any implications for devolved nations.
It was essential that lawyers were engaged at this early stage to spot any legal showstoppers. For example, primary legislation should only really be considered where there aren’t any existing powers to deliver policy changes by means of secondary legislation. ‘Primary legislation’ describes laws, or Acts, passed by Parliament. However, ‘secondary legislation’ is law created by ministers (or other bodies) under powers given to them by primary legislation and should therefore be considered in the first instance.
The PBLs also asked departments to consider whether changes could be delivered by Private Members’ Bills. Here again there was a role for DWP lawyers to advise since Private Members’ Bills are not always a suitable vehicle.
I found the pre-election work to be really interesting. It was great to be at the heart of the planning for the then-unknown outcome of the election. And once the election result was known, we then had a few exciting days waiting to see if any of the DWP bill bids were successful.
Ultimately, some of DWP’s legislative proposals were included in the King’s Speech, so all the preparatory work paid off. Government lawyers are in a unique position at the heart of the legislative process, and it is a great feeling to know that your work makes a difference to the lives of fellow citizens.
Sally Harris is a senior GLD lawyer who works in the DWP