Royal advice: GLD supported the coronation
The Government Legal Department (GLD) has increased the proportion of its staff working outside London to over 12% as part of its ‘National GLD’ programme.
Meanwhile, the department increased its income by 13% to just under £300m in its latest financial year and raised salaries for senior lawyers by 8%.
The GLD said, in its annual report for the year to 31 March 2024, that it wanted to increase its “footprint outside London” and for its people to work “effectively and efficiently from any location across a state-of-the-art national estate”.
Under the National GLD delivery programme, it aspired to achieve a “common culture where any role can be performed from any location”, while ensuring the hybrid working experience was “positive both in terms of office environment, technology and culture and there is parity across all our offices”.
Beyond London, the GLD has added offices in Salford and Croydon to existing bases in Leeds and Bristol. The rise in the proportion of staff working outside London and the South-East to 12.3% marked a “significant increase” over the last four years.
The GLD said that over 2,000 of its just over 3,000 staff are female, a proportion reflected at senior level too. Around 2,500 of its staff are qualified lawyers. Just under a quarter of its total staff are from ethnic minorities, and 8.6% disabled.
“Following extensive work and lengthy negotiation” the GLD said it had secured ministerial agreement for “a significantly enhanced pay offer” for grade 6 and 7 lawyers (managerial roles) of 8% for each of the current and previous financial years.
The GLD launched a pilot scheme for legal apprenticeships last year, with pathways for graduates and non-graduates.
The department is funded mainly from fees charged to its government clients for legal services, and the report said it achieved “full cost recovery” last year and a surplus of £8.3m.
Total operating income (excluding disbursement income) for the year was £298.3m (2022-23: £264.6m), an increase of 13%.
“Key factors” in setting fees and budgets included “the level of litigation demand, the level of staff turnover, the level of investment required to deliver our objectives and the use of third parties to support our legal work”.
On technology, the GLD said it had completed the roll-out of its web-based legislation drafting and checking tool Lawmaker in April last year.
“The use of Lawmaker speeds up the process of drafting, validating and re-drafting statutory instruments, a time-consuming but critical legal process.”
Susanna McGibbon, Treasury Solicitor and permanent secretary of the GLD, said “highlights” of its legal work in the year included taking the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 to Royal Assent, and supporting a range of government departments in their involvement with the Covid-19 Inquiry.
“Additionally, we joined the country in celebrating the coronation of their majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla in May last year, knowing we had played a crucial part in this, advising on the legal aspects of the ceremony.”
These included the wording and choreography of the King’s Coronation Oath, required by the Coronation Oath Act 1688, and the accession declaration set out in the Accession Declaration Act 1910.
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