Corporate report

GLD Business Plan 2022-23

Published 23 June 2022

Contents

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Foreword

I am pleased to share the Government Legal Department’s (GLD) annual Business Plan for 2022-23.

This Business Plan sets out the things GLD will do to help the Government deliver for citizens and our plans to modernise the department over the next 12 months as we focus on realising our strategic outcomes.

Each of these has a clear link to ensuring that GLD continues to provide outstanding legal services to government and is a brilliant place to work. This requires the best legal talent and a department that continues to embrace the opportunities of technology, data, new ways of working and the breadth of talent available right across the United Kingdom. Quite simply we want to combine the very best of legal practice with the modern Civil Service.

GLD lawyers are the government’s principal legal advisers. Our work cuts across every aspect of our society and is at the very heart of every government initiative to improve, defend and progress the lives of the people of the United Kingdom.

2021 was another demanding year, seeing GLD squarely at the heart of government business, providing outstanding legal support across government priorities including COVID-19, energy supply, COP26, trade and national security. In the year ahead GLD will be working on an extensive programme of policies and legislation, helping ministers and departments to deliver their priorities for citizens. I also have no doubt we will be required to respond to unexpected events and support the Government in navigating these at pace.

But this Business Plan also represents a commitment to reset and reconnect across GLD as we begin to live with COVID-19 and embrace the opportunities to work together again, to innovate even more, to learn from each other and to engage with each other which have not been available in recent years. We have set strong foundations to this in 2021 through changes we made in the department and this plan reflects a confident GLD, committed to our people and focused on delivery.

We will strengthen our corporate performance systems and launch a new Overall Plan, the first major outcome from our 4 year Business Transformation Programme. This will help GLD to improve our decision-making and maximise the use of our resources to ensure we are delivering the right things at the right time. We will also continue to invest further in key areas like resourcing, our reward and recognition frameworks, improving how we use data and technology and strengthening our relationships with ministers and departments and our partnership with our private sector panel firms.

We will apply the lessons of the past 2 years of agile, remote working to be location neutral, further increasing our numbers outside London, and use a hybrid approach to how and where we work in the future – rolling out technology and knowledge management roadmaps that will support these new ways of working.

The scale of the challenge facing us should not be underestimated, but our ambitious programme of change initiatives will support and strengthen our role in delivering vital Government initiatives like the Levelling Up agenda, Global Britain, Places for Growth and the Declaration on Government Reform.

I want GLD to be a place where everyone feels welcome – where we support each other, whatever our background or role and where inclusion for all is a genuine feeling. A place where each of us can fulfil our potential and thrive. Throughout the past year we have made further progress on this ambition, but we won’t stop here. This year we will launch a refreshed Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, taking into account where we have succeeded and setting new and ambitious goals for ourselves. I’m particularly proud of the work being done on our Social Mobility Action Plan, which is vital in ensuring that GLD and the wider Civil Service best represent and serve our society.

GLD’s values remain at the heart of this Business Plan and everything we do – to value and respect each other, take pride in the high standards of our service, embrace new ideas and collaborate. I am confident that, with the continued professionalism, resilience and inclusivity that characterises colleagues across GLD, we are equipped to deliver the ambitious agenda we have set out in this plan.

Susanna McGibbon

Permanent Secretary and Treasury Solicitor

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Introduction

The GLD Business Plan 2022-23 sets out the actions we will take over the next 12 months to deliver strong operational performance, excellent legal service to government and the ambitions set out in our Strategy for 2019-2024

Our commitments in this Business Plan will improve our services and our decision- making to further enhance the high quality of our legal support to government.

As we continue to engage with the Declaration on Government Reform, we will explore new ways of ensuring we have the right people working in the right places, with the right incentives. We will continue the progress we have already made in modernising and professionalising our services, ways of working and relationships with our client departments across government and carry on improving how we engage with, and respond to, the needs of ministers. At the forefront of all of this work is our key purpose: to help the government to govern well and deliver for the citizens of the UK.

Our position within the wider government and private sector legal profession will continue to be a key area of focus. We will review how we broker partnerships with colleagues across the profession, embracing opportunities to work closely with the private sector as we deliver the Government’s agenda.

We will also continue to work closely with the Law Officers in the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), developing new and collaborative ways of working to reflect the Attorney General’s priorities for GLD in our ongoing programmes of work: including, for example, embedding the Attorney General’s legal risk guidance, improved knowledge management and greater engagement with the private sector. In this way we will ensure we continue to provide the best standard of legal services.

The Prime Minister has set out a clear roadmap for how the Government will build back better – not only beating COVID-19, but coming back stronger than ever before. GLD’s legal advisers will provide crucial support in achieving these goals in 2022-23.

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Our purpose, vision and values

Our purpose and vision

Our purpose is to help the government to govern well, within the rule of law

Our vision is to be:

• an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of

service and professionalism

• a brilliant place to work, where we can all thrive and fulfil our potential

Our values

Our values are important and are at the heart of GLD

One GLD, working together:

• we value and respect each other

• we take pride in the high standards of our service

• we embrace new ideas and collaborate

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Who we are and what we do

GLD is committed to providing outstanding legal advice and support to government, to help it to govern well and within the rule of law. We have a unique position at the heart of government and play a crucial role in changing and developing the law to enable key policies to be realised.

Within GLD, this means a culture of:

• everyone taking pride in what we do and performing to the highest standards
• working together, valuing and respecting the diverse insights and experiences of our colleagues, to achieve the best results
• investing in the high quality skills, tools and infrastructure we need
• continually seeking opportunities to improve and innovate, including through new technology and smarter ways of working Our commitments to our client departments include:
• high quality, timely and flexible advice provided by suitably skilled legal staff, that enables clients to make effective, risk-based decisions across the full range of their work
• working collaboratively with legal colleagues across different specialisms to provide meaningful legal solutions
• a good knowledge and understanding by legal staff of clients’ business and policy context
• legal horizon scanning, knowledge sharing and effective advice on the potential impact of legal developments
• fast and efficient ancillary services, for example statutory instrument processing
• clear, concise, value for money advice

At the centre of our work are those areas where GLD provides a unique perspective, because of our trusted expertise, our strategic insights and our strong relationships with clients. This is based on a shared commitment, as civil servants, to support the Government of the day.

Advisory

GLD has several expert advisory teams, each specialising in the work of its client department, providing risk-based and solution-focused legal advice.

GLD lawyers are crucial throughout the life cycle of government policy. They advise on and draft legislation and work to take it through Parliament; advising departments and ministers on the legal implications of government policy and ensuring it stands up to Parliamentary scrutiny.

Employment

As one of the largest employment law practices in the country, GLD’s Employment Group advises on complex and fast-moving legal areas including: claims for unfair dismissal and relating to discrimination; pay issues; contractual issues and terms and conditions; and whistleblowing claims.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) and Transactional Hub provides specialist advice on employment and pensions issues to help manage employment- related risks, while the Industrial Hub advises on trade union matters and industrial action. The National Security Hub manages advice work and litigation claims requiring a knowledge of security vetting or the management of protected material.

Commercial

The Commercial Law Group provides expert advice on transactional, litigation, property and advisory commercial legal matters.

Transactional and advisory teams advise government departments on their commercial work, ensuring value for money in the purchase of goods and services for the public sector.

The litigation and dispute resolution team supports the government in high profile legal claims and saves taxpayer money by pursuing alternative forums (mediation, adjudication).

The GLD Property Hub provides strategic commercial property advice and supports government departments and agencies via training on property issues.

Litigation

GLD’s Litigation Group is comprised of 3 divisions: Defence and Security, Home Office and Immigration, and Justice and Development.

Litigation lawyers handle high-profile public and private law litigation for central government departments, security agencies and other public bodies, including UK military and security bodies. The divisions also undertake inquest, inquiry and injunctive work for GLD’s clients.

Our litigation teams are currently handling approximately 22,000 pieces of litigation.

Centres of Excellence

GLD has 15 Centres of Excellence; formal networks of lawyers who have recognised expertise in an area of law or legal practice that has relevance across a number of GLD divisions and teams. The Centres of Excellence include:

• Better Regulation
• Costs
• Data Protection
• Devolution
• Equalities
• Europe
• Freedom of Information
• Grants
• Human Rights
• International Trade
• Primary Legislation
• Property Law Hub
• Public Law
• SI Hub (see below)
• State Aid

SI Hub

The SI Hub is GLD’s specialist statutory instrument drafting service and Centre of Excellence for secondary legislation, with 30 lawyers drafting secondary legislation for all of GLD’s client departments.

The SI Hub Centre of Excellence makes a major contribution to helping lawyers across GLD improve the quality of their drafting, through its structured SI training programme, the annual SI conference and drafting guidance.

Bona Vacantia

The Bona Vacantia Division deals with ownerless property which passes to the Crown: the assets of dissolved companies, the estates of persons who die without leaving a will and without kin and other miscellaneous bona vacantia in England and Wales.

Income arising from bona vacantia goes to our client, HM Treasury, as part of the Consolidated Fund for the benefit of the general exchequer. This is another method by which GLD provides a value for money service both to our client departments and to the taxpayer.

Finance, Operations and Digital, and Strategy, People and Culture

Responsible for developing the department’s strategy and plans and leading and co-ordinating programmes of activity across the department, to deliver cost effective legal and support services that address the needs of our clients and staff.

Our Corporate Services colleagues provide crucial support to our legal teams in the areas of governance and strategy; communications and engagement; finance, planning and performance; human resources; procurement; facilities management; security; digital, data and technology (DDaT), business assurance and resilience; and records management services.

Knowledge and Innovation

Responsible for the department’s first integrated Legal Knowledge, Capability and Innovation Strategy, working with legal divisions and our 15 Centres of Excellence to improve how we create and share our expertise and enabling our people to seize opportunities to streamline and transform the way we deliver our legal services to our clients.

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Working in partnership to deliver for government

###Beating COVID-19 and Backing the NHS: saving lives and protecting the NHS by encouraging people to take better care of their health

GLD lawyers will provide advice to all client departments on legal aspects of work place safety and return to the office.

Supporting government in its response to the COVID-19 Inquiry will be a significant workstream for GLD’s Litigation Group throughout 2022-23. The COVID-19 Inquiry team will support departments across government participating in the Inquiry as the Recognised Legal Representative. It will also co-ordinate cross-cutting advice where needed. Each department has its own counsel team instructed by GLD. In addition to GLD lawyers, the team has been working with the Commercial Law Group (CLGp) to partner government departments with firms on the Legal Services Panel.

Department for Work and Pensions Legal Advisers (DWPLA) will legislate to clarify the rules relating to benefits and terminal illnesses.

Department for Health and Social Care Legal Advisers (DHSCLA) will support the department in addressing the pressures on the NHS following the COVID-19 pandemic, improving integration between different parts of the health and care system, increasing the focus on prevention of ill health and addressing the challenges of social care funding.

Cabinet Office Legal Advisers (COLA) provides legal advice and support to the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office across the full range of its functions. Particular areas of focus this year are advice on constitutional matters and on the set up and sponsorship of public inquiries, notably the COVID-19 Inquiry.

The SI Hub will continue to build on the crucial work it has been doing throughout the pandemic in drafting statutory instruments to support the government’s response to, and recovery from, COVID-19, including assisting DHSCLA with the implementation of the Health and Care Act 2022.

CLGp will continue to advise on vaccine and treatment procurements and on building production capacity, as well as advising on legacy litigation and wind down issues from contracts issued at the height of the pandemic, particularly for PPE and testing facilities. It will also provide support to the Department for Education on contracts for “catch-up education”.

Build Back Better: a focus on economic recovery, supporting employment through the Plan for Jobs and ensuring investment levels up opportunity

Department for Transport Legal Advisers (DfTLA) will work alongside the department in creating an improved and inclusive transport network which is safer, sustainable and more secure.

DWPLA will provide legal support to help rebuild the economy, reforming and modernising the welfare system and pensions (including the move to Universal Credit and consultations on disability benefit reform). DWPLA will work on employment support programmes such as Kickstart and Restart, provide legal support to initiatives such as the Household Support Grant and support the Government’s plans for levelling up.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Legal Advisers (BEISLA) will be supporting the department to promote enterprise and back long- term growth, through its role in reforming corporate governance and in implementing a new subsidies regime; as well as a range of programmes and regulatory reforms aimed at supporting economic recovery and levelling up the country, by unleashing innovation and advancing enterprise and jobs.

CLGp’s work supporting the levelling up agenda includes contracts for the distribution of grants for the homeless, supporting various DWP schemes to support people into work (including the young unemployed) and traineeships for 16 to 18 year olds.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Legal Advisers (DLUHCLA) is working on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and will be supporting the department in getting this bill and the other legislation it needs to deliver its Levelling Up agenda drafted and through Parliament. It will continue to support the delivery of real change and regeneration to communities through a range of funding programmes.

Build Back Fairer: increasing opportunities across the country, with better education, housing, skills and infrastructure

Department for Education Legal Advisers (DfELA) will continue to provide advice at pace on COVID-19 recovery and support for lost learning. It is working on a number of high-profile policy priorities including the Second Session Skills Bill, flagship Schools Bill and Higher Education Bill, as well as a green paper on significant changes to the Special Educational Needs system and the response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.

Equality Hub Legal Advisers (EHLA) will advise the Equality Hub on policies relating to women, the LGBT community and equality law issues and is currently working on the British Sign Language Bill.

Ministry of Justice Legal Advisers (MoJLA) will provide legal advice to deliver the Government manifesto commitment to update the Human Rights Act.

DLUHCLA will continue to be at the heart of improving building safety by speeding up the remediation of high-rise buildings with dangerous cladding and by implementing the Building Safety Act 2022.

Build Back Safer: upholding law and order, improving national security and strengthening our borders

MoJLA will support the court recovery programme following COVID-19, including increasing the appropriate use of digital technology.

Home Office Legal Advisers (HOLA) will help to tackle illegal migration, working on a range of initiatives designed to reform the end-to-end asylum process.

CLGp’s property work will include prison construction and accommodation for asylum seekers.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Legal Advisers (DCMSLA) will support the department’s ambitious legislative agenda, including the flagship Online Safety Bill and implementation of the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021.

COLA will support the Propriety and Ethics Unit in its role advising on, and developing policy in respect of, standards and conduct for ministers and civil servants. It is also responsible for providing legal support to the Wales Office and on a number of national and government security matters.

Litigation Group will respond to litigation brought in relation to the asylum partnership arrangement the Government has entered into with Rwanda.

Build Back Stronger: capitalising on post-Brexit opportunities, promoting our global interests and building the strength of the Union

Treasury Legal Advisors (TLA) will continue to advise on HM Treasury’s interests in trade negotiations.

DfTLA will support negotiations with the EU and the rest of the world on future trade arrangements and delivering the Government’s commitments on high-speed rail and other infrastructure construction projects.

DWPLA will work with international partners to ensure adequate coordination of social security arrangements post-Brexit, for example the provision of pensions for those living abroad.

Department for International Trade Legal Advisers (DITLA) will support the department in championing open and fair global trading that drives growth, creates better jobs and higher wages and improves living standards in this country and around the world. DIT lawyers advise on trade negotiations, trade disputes, export controls and sanctions and on all aspects of trade and investment law, from trade in goods and services to government procurement, intellectual property and sustainable development.

COLA will support the Cabinet Office’s lead role in respect of strategic and cross- cutting commercial policy, including developing new primary legislation for public procurement, and provide advice and support to the Brexit Opportunities Unit in respect of legislation concerning the status of retained EU law.

CLGp will provide advice on various post-Brexit initiatives, including Future Farming and the Department for International Trade’s foreign sponsorships.

Build Back Greener: making green industries fit for the future, hosting a successful COP26 and leading the way globally to reach Net Zero by 2050

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Legal Advisers (DefraLA) ensures that primary and secondary legislation and international and trade negotiations allow the department to deliver on its vision to make our air purer, our water cleaner and our land greener.

BEISLA will help BEIS to deliver its ambitions of building a stronger, greener and more prosperous future across the UK, through involvement in an extensive programme of primary legislation across the department’s portfolio, as well as addressing the legal challenges of delivering on Net Zero (including implementing the recently launched British Energy Security Strategy) and continuing to lead internationally on climate change.

CLGp’s work supporting Net Zero will cover advising on schemes for grants to support tree planting, the climate change fund and hydrogen strategy and working on overseas projects to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Additionally, DefraLA and the SI Hub support Net Zero through implementation of the Environment Act 2021 and primary legislative measures on nature.

Litigation Group is prepared to support the government in dealing with the recent and continuing increase in legal challenges based on whether or not there has been proper consideration of climate change in COVID-19 policy. It will also provide key assistance to government to respond to protestor action.

Delivering for the UK: promoting essential and statutory government activity and informing the public of critical information

DfELA is providing ongoing support for Afghan and Ukrainian refuges, including unaccompanied child refugees.

TLA will provide extensive legal advice on sanctions, particularly those recently imposed on Russia.

Litigation Group will respond to litigation brought in respect of the international sanctions imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

DWPLA will work at pace to ensure the legal frameworks are in place for refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan to receive welfare support when they arrive in the UK.

HOLA will also focus on national security issues, including economic crime and hostile state threat measures, strengthening the UK’s borders while also creating a secure environment which enables those who qualify to travel to safety from Ukraine.

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Our Strategy

Our strategic priorities in 2022-23 will help us to deliver the GLD Strategy as we provide outstanding legal services to government, supporting and enabling it to deliver its priorities for citizens. We will further establish GLD as a collaborative, innovative department, an outstanding legal organisation and a brilliant place to work.

A key focus for us will be to continue to build on our relationship with the wider legal profession. We will explore the opportunities we have to raise our profile, attract talent and learn from the wider profession.

Alongside this, our Business Transformation Programme is aimed at modernising GLD’s work and processes (particularly through investment in technology), enhancing our client relationships and supporting the Government in its priorities.

GLD’s Strategy is also closely aligned with the vision for A Modern Civil Service – skilled, innovative and ambitious – as set out in the Declaration on Government Reform.

We will carefully monitor the progress of our priorities against our strategic outcomes throughout the year, to ensure they are supporting our overall contribution to government. This will also enable us to make more informed and objective decisions on new initiatives and changes, ensuring that we use the fees charged to client departments in the most efficient way to deliver excellent services to citizens.

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Our strategic priorities

To enable us to realise our vision and ensure GLD goes from strength to strength as a department, we have identified 6 strategic outcomes. We will deliver these in a way that supports the priorities of Government and modernises our organisation, to ensure we provide the highest standard of legal services to our clients.

Leadership

Improve our leadership at all levels by developing and embedding a Leadership Framework with clear standards linked to progression and retention, with a shared expectation, confidence and accountability

Priority	Action
Further embed leadership behaviours to enable inspiring, confident and accountable leadership at all levels of GLD	We will empower leaders at every level, through the further development of leadership training and the sharing of best practices, to bring leadership that ensures our increasingly dispersed teams can thrive We will continue to promote wider Civil Service leadership schemes (e.g. Future Leaders Scheme and Senior Leaders Scheme), supporting GLD staff to apply, and signpost new and existing line managers to Civil Service Learning opportunities
Ensure open and visible leadership that enables the delivery of high quality legal services across government, maximising the benefits of our regional offices and hybrid working	We will ensure that our senior leadership team is visible to all in GLD, regardless of office location, and assign sponsorship of each office location to a particular director general

Be recognised

Be recognised across the Civil Service, and externally, as a leading employer in relation to diversity and inclusion and wellbeing

Priority

Action

Continue to invest in our diversity and inclusion initiatives, refreshing our strategies and ways of working to ensure we are building a strong culture of inclusion for all and an environment where everyone feels supported and able to thrive

We will review and refresh our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, to ensure it reflects both the progress we have already made and our widening areas of focus. As part of this work we will publish and begin to implement our Social Mobility Action Plan We will continue to support the Stephen Amos mutual mentoring scheme, to empower colleagues to develop their skills and achieve their goals We will further develop and communicate our health and wellbeing initiatives, such as our network of Mental Health First Aiders, to ensure colleagues can access the support they need and announce the appointment of a new internal Disability and Wellness Champion We will continue to support GLD’s many diversity networks, including by publicising them internally in cross-department communications, engaging with them in our strategic planning of diversity and inclusion work and supporting events and initiatives

Improved offer

Put in place an improved offer to attract, retain, reward and develop the talented people who we need to make us an outstanding organisation

Priority	Action
Improve our pay and benefits offer to staff	We will develop and submit a refreshed business case for more substantive, long-term reform and improvement in pay for all, ensuring our staff are rewarded and feel valued
Improve our resourcing capacity and capability	We will invest significantly in delivering a resourcing approach that builds capacity in the recruitment team and improves our processes and systems We will procure third party support for our resourcing and recruitment team, supporting HR colleagues to ensure we have the right people in post at the right time. This will enable us to meet the increased demand for government lawyers and continue to deliver our high standard of service across government
Review early talent approaches, outreach activity and routes to qualification, to reach a bigger and more diverse pool of candidates	We will consider our response to changes to the Solicitors Qualifying Examination to ensure we optimise our recruitment and continue to improve our legal career pathways and consider the introduction of a solicitors’ apprenticeship We will continue to ensure that we are offering meaningful career opportunities to a wide range of candidates, including from under represented groups, by introducing a commonwealth exchange scheme and internships for disadvantaged students, participating in the Life Chances Programme and the Kickstart scheme and considering offering more apprenticeships across all professions We will create an updated and modernised attraction strategy to respond to changes in the legal market and to improve our branding as an employer. We will further develop our outreach activity and create an action plan, including significantly increasing secondments, engaging with universities and establishing a GLD Alumni Network
Further develop our ambition to become a national organisation, enabling employees to have rewarding and stretching career opportunities irrespective of the GLD location they are based in	We will continue to offer all legal colleagues genuinely challenging, unique and high-profile work across the whole spectrum of government law, incentivising them to continue to develop their careers within GLD
Continue to ensure that we respond effectively to the needs of our people	We will deliver on our People Survey commitments, analysing responses and feedback and using the results to inform our forward planning, to ensure that we are listening and responding to what colleagues want

Connected

Increase our numbers outside London whilst operating as a fully integrated department, connected across our many sites within and outside London. Exploit the opportunities technology provides to enhance the working experience of our staff and the quality of our service for clients

Priority	Action
Maximise our delivery of services to clients and the quality of experience for our colleagues, by aligning with the Government’s interoperability agenda	We will develop a Technology Roadmap covering the full breadth of GLD, considering the future technology needs of the department and all end users and prioritising interoperability with our clients
Ensure that we are capitalising on the opportunities of new technology to ensure delivery of a seamless, connected service	We will build on the work already being done to retire and replace the legacy IT estate. This will enable full laptop working and docking stations in offices, with the aim to provide a choice of devices, to support hybrid working arrangements
Implement our Accommodation and Location Strategy, in line with cross-government initiatives (Places for Growth and A Modern Civil Service) and our clients’ estate plans	We will reconfigure our office space to provide fewer desks and more collaboration, meeting and task-based work spaces We will develop our People and Places policies and plans for increasing regionalisation, building on our existing presence in Leeds, Bristol and Croydon. We will ensure that roles are relocated naturally according to turnover or to accommodate colleagues who wish to relocate
Embed our Greening Government commitments around sustainability into our decision-making	We will develop a Sustainability Roadmap, building on the foundations of the 2021-22 Sustainability Action Plan, to set out our path to a fuller Sustainability Strategy

Capability

Enhance the capability and capacity of our staff through the operation of a fully integrated digital knowledge management system accessible to all throughout GLD and an enhanced training offer through the use of digital delivery platforms, alongside traditional techniques and the further development of gld.digital

Priority	Action
Improve how we create and share expertise	We will complete the initial rollout of our eKM knowledge sharing platform accessible to and searchable by lawyers from across GLD, enabling us to store, share and manage up-to-date and high quality legal knowledge content We will develop a knowledge and learning systems roadmap to ensure joined-up working and learning across GLD and the Government Legal Profession (GLP). This will give GLD lawyers, GLP colleagues and our clients easier access to relevant resources, contacts and expertise We will develop a clear and cohesive GLD legal learning framework to ensure GLD lawyers are provided with relevant, effective legal technical and skills training and development at all stages of their career We will publish a new 6th edition of JOYS (the Judge Over Your Shoulder) guidance. This guidance helps civil servants understand the legal principles of administrative decision-making and judicial review procedure. JOYS is published on GOV.UK and is widely used by the judiciary, public bodies and academics to understand public law We will engage with the wider legal sector and relevant cross-government functions (e.g. Security, HR, Finance, Communications, Policy, Project Delivery and DDaT) to ensure that we are maximising our professional capability and learning opportunities for colleagues, for example by implementing the DDaT Professional Framework As part of our ongoing work to improve our business management (BM) approach, we will ensure that BM colleagues can access relevant and useful training and share expertise effectively across the profession, to improve both their support to legal colleagues and their own development opportunities
Enhance the way we deliver legal services to our clients, including where appropriate further engagement with the private sector	We will refresh our approach to advice and legal risk, embedding new guidance from the Law Officers, with a programme of training over 2022-23 and improved quality assurance We will embed our new governance structures for the strategic management of the central government legal panels and we will establish a pilot team to support lawyers using those panels. This will improve the way we work with the private sector to provide the legal work that government requires in a cost effective way. Additionally, we will extend our cross-panel collaboration on knowledge and learning innovation We will extend the use of the Lawmaker online drafting tool to statutory instruments produced across GLD and explore extending our other online resources in the legislation area We will continue to develop our specialist legal knowledge and innovation capability to help teams standardise and semi-automate repeatable legal processes

Professionalise

Professionalise and modernise all aspects of our service, both corporate and legal services, using a ‘fail fast/learn quickly’ approach to encourage innovation

Priority	Action
Legal Quality Assurance: ensure that consistent and professional systems are in place across GLD to assure the legal quality of the services we provide	Each division will produce its own annual Quality Assurance Plan, with line manager assessment of work against the standards in Being an Effective Government Lawyer at its heart. By the end of May 2022 all divisions will have their Quality Assurance Plans in place and will implement the new system throughout the financial year 2022-23
Develop a renewed Corporate Services approach, ensuring that our legal colleagues are well supported by professionals from other functions, in all GLD locations	We will implement a standardised business management approach across all teams in GLD We will develop a strategy for Corporate Services, including approaches to regionalisation and changes implemented as part of our Accommodation and Location Strategy, to ensure the continued high quality of our services to colleagues
Governance, Performance and Risk Management Review: develop systems to ensure our governance delivers effective decisionmaking for GLD	We will review decision-making across our committees and how our risk management and performance reporting operates and informs our Board and committees We will ensure that we maximise our engagement with client departments and ministers, conducting non-executive director led ‘deep dives’ and reviewing our Client Satisfaction Survey to ensure we are effectively engaging with and responding to the needs of our clients
Set out a renewed vision for the Government Legal Profession, demonstrating the excellent work that we do together on behalf of our fellow citizens and in support of Government priorities	We will develop a refreshed strategy for GLP, outlining its vision and purpose and ensuring the active engagement of members led by the Treasury Solicitor We will work with colleagues across government to formalise our collaboration, implementing regular meetings and hosting conference events to improve engagement and networking and increase opportunities for knowledge sharing
Collaborate to raise our profile across the Civil Service and throughout the legal sector	We will ensure that GLD’s purpose is clearly communicated across the wider legal profession outside of government

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Our performance measures

The performance measures we have agreed with HM Treasury for 2022-23 reflect our continued commitment to maintain our high professional standards, as well as delivering excellent client satisfaction.

The measures are:

• our client satisfaction rating (our aim is for 95% or above)
• to maintain Lexcel (the Law Society’s Practice Standard) accreditation
• to recover from clients the full operating costs of chargeable services

We will also draw on our People Survey scores and other workforce insight and feedback, to ensure that GLD continues to develop its people offer and is a demonstrably brilliant place to work. This will contribute to the next step in the development of GLD’s Strategy by creating a set of quantitative performance metrics to provide tangible evidence of performance and delivery against our Strategy and the qualitative outcomes within it.

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Our strategic risks

Our Risk Management Framework ensures that the principal risks to the delivery of our objectives and to the provision of our legal services to clients are identified, evaluated and monitored. We have identified 8 strategic risks with each one owned by a respective Board member. The Risk Management Framework ensures that owners are accountable and action is agreed to mitigate the risk and/or that contingency plans are developed, where there is limited scope to prevent a risk occurring, and it is necessary to respond to the risk should it occur. The results of this assessment are captured in our Strategic Risk Register for 2022-23.

To manage our risks we:

• have an overarching Overall Plan, with priority strategic projects and initiatives mapped and assigned for key actions. Our committees will take an active and regular role to monitor progress in delivering the commitments and actions in the plan
• have a highly developed Business Continuity Plan, which includes plans for critical systems and operations at a local divisional level. The plans include an ICT Disaster Recovery Plan, supported by an Incident Management Team and our remote working capability. In addition, we have succession plans for critical roles to ensure our legal services are maintained
• ensure the capability of our staff through appropriate training programmes, the development of general and specialist legal skills and utilisation of legal technologies and have appropriate legal quality assurance processes
• have an overall client approach supported by local client care plans to help build and maintain the trust and confidence of clients. To manage the demand for our services we have procured external panel firms and panel counsel
• undertake a comprehensive annual planning and budgeting process to determine the fee rates we need to charge to clients. The income, expenditure and activity trends are monitored throughout the year and this enables prompt action to be taken to bring spending in line with HM Treasury control totals
• are working to enhance our workforce planning to forecast the resource and skill requirements of the department
• have a programme of work, including the “Life Changing Law” brand, to increase the attractiveness of the department to potential new recruits
• have developed career paths, talent and succession plans and provide substantial learning and development opportunities to help retain our staff and we are looking at how to bring forward an enhanced pay settlement for GLD
• have developed a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to ensure diverse recruitment and this is supported by creating alternative routes to legal qualification via apprenticeships
• have a Leadership Framework, supported by a programme of learning and development, which sets out clear leadership expectations. All managers have leadership objectives and are held to account through the Performance Management Framework. Our recruitment and promotion processes have been reviewed and updated to ensure we create a diverse leadership cadre
• are developing and will implement our Digital and Technology Strategy and associated Technology Roadmap and are implementing the findings of the Legal Work Activity Analysis, which has informed the technology aspects of our Legal Knowledge, Capability and Innovation Strategy
• are strengthening our innovation capability and culture and will adhere to our business case approval process to ensure appropriate prioritisation and value for money
• comply with the requirements of our Information Security Management System and meet minimum government security standards
• ensure all staff are appropriately security cleared and communicate securely with counsel and other third parties and that all staff complete mandatory annual information security and related training. Assurance is obtained through maintaining various ICT related certifications and accreditations

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Our resources

We plan to use the following number of people to deliver our objectives in 2022-23:

	Full time equivalent
Advisory divisions	1,552
Litigation Group	622
Commercial Law Group	227
Employment Group	160
Legal trainees	86
Bona Vacantia	49
Staff seconded to inquiries	39
Total front line staff	2,735
Corporate Support staff	380
Total staff	3,115

We plan to spend £272m (net), the main components of which are:

	£’000
Staff costs (excludes secondees)	232,610
Other operating costs	2,597
Accommodation (net of income)	13,807
Depreciation	2,600
Project delivery and management	4,500
ICT maintenance and network	5,339
Training	2,859
Legal Subscription Services	1,825
Other administration costs	5,647
Total operating costs	271,784
Net disbursements	200
Total costs	271,984

These costs will be funded by:

	£’000
Legal fees and charges to clients	265,792
Recovery of the cost of bona vacantia	4,940
Funding from the Parliamentary Estimate	2,090
Total income	272,822/strong>

Our funding from the Parliamentary Estimate covers the cost of public interest casework (Letters of Request), both in terms of time spent and disbursements. This was agreed with HM Treasury as part the Spending Review process. The balance of our operating costs is recovered from our clients; in setting our fixed fees and hourly rates, we apply HM Treasury’s guidance on fees and charges contained within their publication, Managing Public Money.

In addition, we procure around £45m per annum of disbursements, which includes the engagement of counsel, expert witnesses and private sector law firms. These expenses are billed directly to clients.

We will also receive Parliamentary Estimate funding of £2.09m towards meeting our requirements for capital expenditure, e.g. investments in technology devices and infrastructure and estates, furniture and fittings.

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Annexes

Annex A: Organisation structure

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Annex B: Strategic Risk Register

Risk category	Risk description	Plans and mitigations
Strategy	We do not have an optimised performance and assurance system to monitor the implementation of our Strategy and supporting sub-strategies	An overarching Strategic Plan is in place with updates provided to the Executive Committee on a monthly basis. Sub-strategies have been developed and responsibilities have been assigned for agreed actions. The committees monitor progress on relevant sub-strategies and actions
Strategy	We do not prepare for significant external events which have the potential to have an adverse impact on the delivery of legal services to our clients or achieving full cost recovery	We have a highly developed Business Continuity Plan which includes plans for critical systems and operations at a local divisonal level. The plans include an ICT Disaster Recovery Plan and are supported by an Incident Management Team and our remote working capability. In addition we have succession plans for critical roles to ensure our legal service is maintained
Reputation	We damage the confidence and trust of our clients and/ or the judiciary, by not meeting their expectations or delivering on commitments given to them	We use a multi-aspect approach to managing this risk by ensuring the capability of our staff through appropriate training programmes, the development of general and specialist legal skills, utilisation of legal technologies and have appropriate legal quality assurance processes. In addition we have worked closely with the Attorney General’s Office to update the approach to advising on legal risk in government and we have an overall client approach supported by local client care plans to help build and maintain the trust and confidence of clients. To manage demand for our services we have procured external panel firms and panel counsel
Financial	We do not generate sufficient income to achieve full cost recovery and/or we breach one of our HM Treasury Control Totals	Each year we undertake a comprehensive planning and budgeting process to determine the fee rates we need to charge to clients. The income, expenditure and activity trends are monitored throughout the year and this enables prompt action to be taken to bring spending in line with HM Treasury Control Totals
People	We do not attract, recruit and retain diverse and sufficient people to deliver the breadth and quality of legal services required by our clients	We are working to enhance our workforce planning process including regular meetings with senior management to ensure effective deployment of staff There is ongoing resourcing activity to improve our recruitment processes and the candidate experience and we have commissioned an external review of our resourcing approach. We continue to explore the creation of alternative routes to legal qualification via apprenticeships We are working on the following initiatives to enhance attraction and improve retention: explore ways to improve pay and conditions; leadership work to ensure that managers engage their employees so that they see GLD as a great place to work; ensuring that staff have access to a range of learning and development opportunities; and implementing our Diversity and Inclusion Delivery Plan, Health and Wellbeing Action Plan and our Talent and Succession Framework We are continuing to ensure access to external expertise via external counsel and panel firms
People	We have insufficient leadership capability to inspire and empower our people to deliver the required levels of service and/or our strategic aims	Our Leadership Framework, supported by a programme of learning and development, sets out clear leadership expectations. All managers have leadership objectives and are held to account through the Performance Management Framework. Our recruitment and promotion processes have been reviewed and updated to ensure we create a diverse leadership cadre
Technology	We do not make the most effective tools consistently available to our people across the whole department which are necessary to deliver the required standards of service to our clients	We are developing a Digital and Technology Strategy and are implementing the findings of the Legal Work Activity Analysis, which has informed the technology aspects of our Legal Knowledge, Capability and Innovation Strategy. These strategies are being developed in conjunction with the technology strands of our Business Transformation Programme. We are strengthening our innovation capability and culture and will adhere to our business case approval process to ensure appropriate prioritisation and value for money
Security	We do not keep pace with emerging threats, or there is a failure of compliance, which results in harm, or sanctions, or has an adverse impact on our ability to deliver legal services to our clients	We comply with the requirements of our Information Security Management System and meet minimum government security standards. We ensure all staff are appropriately security cleared and communicate securely with counsel and other third parties. In addition all staff complete mandatory annual information security and related training and assurance is obtained through maintaining various ICT related certifications and accreditations