paymaster general was asked in the commons on 21 july -

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he was advised on the legal opinion of Richard Drabble QC on the practice of automatic recovery of overpaid tax credits; when he asked his Department's lawyers for advice; and what action he has taken in response.'

... and her response ....

It is in the public interest that decisions taken by Government Departments are taken in a fully informed legal context. Government Departments, such as HMRC, therefore regularly need to be able to obtain full and comprehensive legal advice necessary for the effective conduct of public affairs without which the quality of decision-making will be greatly impaired. As with the advice in question, such advice is not routinely brought to the attention of Ministers.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm050721/text/50721w32.htm#50721w32.html_spnew18

Shawn

Precisely what was the legal opinion?

Regards
Paul

but paul .... such advice is not routinely brought to the attention even of ministers .... let alone us mere mortals .......

Lol

Remember the brouhaha surrounding attempts to get hold of the Attorney General's advice on whether the war in iraq was illegal or not. Couldn't you pull some strings!!!

Note the careful wording. It doesn't say that ministers didn't see the advice, just that it wasn't "brought to their attention".

quite right. never underestimate the deviousness of the civil service - 'such advice is not routinely brought to the attention of Ministers' is a deflection shield and cloaking device...
if the mandarins weren't as good as getting gov'ts out of trouble as they are at getting them into trouble, they would have been abolished long since. oops!

meanwhile...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1538520,00.html

in the circumstances, i can't see the chancellor NOT getting legal advice - he maybe feels like he is between a rock and a hard place...

as a former civil servant trade unionist,i will always remember gordon brown's good work in the 'action for benefits' campaign against the fowler cuts in 1986, and he is a prime mover in trying to alleviate poverty in africa through debt cancellation. so in spite of everything, he retains some credit with me, and i wish there was some way i could help. : )

unfortunately, i am a bear of little brain, and when i try to imagine how a chancellor does the right thing AND balances the books, i keep hitting on the problem of the national budget is not big enough to permit us to do this, AND afford wars, which probably were not in the budget in the first place, and it seems to be a sticking point...

<sigh>

jj