Ministry of Justice TO130237: no ministerial intervention

Transcript

T [phone redacted] 
F [phone redacted] 
E: https://contact-moj.service.justice.gov.uk/ 
[address redacted]
London 
[address redacted]
 
 
Central Correspondence Team 
Ministry of Justice 
[address redacted]
London 
[address redacted]
Requester 
 
MoJ ref: TO130237 
27 April 2026 
 
 
Dear Requester, 
 
Thank you for your email of September 2025 to Cabinet Office, regarding a historic legal case. 
Your email has been transferred to the Ministry of Justice and as a government official I have 
been asked to respond. I sincerely apologise for the delay in sending a reply, which was due to 
an administrative error in the transfer of your correspondence. 
 
With regard to your comment that the Government may wish to revisit the legal case in which 
your family lost their home, I should explain that neither Government Ministers nor their officials 
are able to comment on, or intervene in, an individual case. This is not due to a lack of interest or 
concern, but to prevent any perceived or actual interference with the independence of the courts 
and any other agencies which may be involved in an individual case. 
 

I note your concerns about the solicitors who handled the case, and it might be helpful if I explain 
that the legal profession in England and Wales, together with its regulators, operates 
independently of the Government. The responsibility for regulating the sector sits with the 
approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The Solicitors Regulation 
Authority (SRA) regulates solicitors and law firms working across all legal disciplines and sets 
professional standards that solicitors must adhere to. As the approved regulators are 
independent of the Government, it would not be appropriate for Ministers or their officials to 
comment on, or intervene in, specific cases. 
 
Detailed rules and safeguards governing the conduct of solicitors are published by the SRA 
which has the specialist knowledge, expertise, and enforcement powers enabling them to take 
appropriate action in cases of professional misconduct. If you believe that the solicitors have 
breached these rules or acted inappropriately, you can access details of how to report this to the 
SRA at: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/ or by calling them on [phone redacted]. 
 
It is open to you, should you wish to do so, to seek independent legal advice from organisations 
such as Citizens Advice (CA) or Law Centres who can provide free, impartial advice on a range 
of issues. Details on how to find the nearest CA are available at: 
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ or via telephone [phone redacted]. The Law Centres Network 
can be found at: https://www.lawcentres.org.uk/.  
 
[redacted]

2 
I realise that this reply will be a disappointment to you, however there is nothing further that I can 
add. 
 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
Ms S Hollis 
Ministry of Justice

Artifact description

Our integration

A Ministry of Justice letter, reference TO130237, dated 27 April 2026. It answers an email of September 2025 that was sent to the Cabinet Office and later transferred. The letter apologises for a seven-month delay caused by an administrative error in the transfer. It states ministers and officials cannot comment on or intervene in an individual case, and that complaints about solicitors belong with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Services Board.

Why it matters: it is the government's stated position on revisiting BP Properties Ltd v Buckler (1987): not a matter for ministers. That leaves the courts and the regulators as the only routes.

What cuts against the case: this is the standard reply, and it is correct on the separation of powers. The letter makes no finding about the case, and nothing in it suggests the government has records about the case that it is holding back.

Related: The covering email · Timeline · Disclosure Dartboard