Assistant Parliamentary Counsel

Location: Westminster, London

Number of jobs available: 4

Salary: £80,000 plus allowance rising to 25%

Job summary

The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is a team within the Civil Service of around 50 lawyers and 10 support staff. Our job title is “counsel” but the job is open to barristers, solicitors and legal executives. Our main role is to draft Government Bills for introduction into Parliament and Government amendments to Bills as they go through Parliament on their way to becoming Acts.

Parliament can legislate about anything, so our work covers a wide variety of subjects and we do not specialise in any particular area of law. The Bills we draft can be hugely politically significant and topical, but may also be niche, specialised or technical. Our Office drafted the Bills that became Acts creating the NHS, nationalising and then privatising public utilities, delivering devolution, implementing Brexit and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences. In the past 12 months alone we’ve produced bills on a wide range of subjects, including biodiversity in the oceans, renters’ rights, border security, employment rights, data protection, energy, criminal law, taxation, water, planning, women bishops, railways and the steel industry.

Because we may need to deal with legislation affecting any aspect of modern life, we recognise the importance of being a diverse organisation composed of excellent lawyers from a wide range of backgrounds.

We are committed to producing clear and effective legislation to the highest possible standards in the public interest. We lead the legislative drafting profession within Government and work to promote high standards of drafting and awareness of the principles underpinning good law. In addition to drafting Bills we advise the Government on Parliamentary procedure and liaise with Parliamentary authorities on behalf of the Government, we draft or review some subordinate legislation, where our expertise is called for, and we advise the Government on legal, Parliamentary and constitutional questions falling within our expertise.

Job description

Assistant Parliamentary Counsel (APCs) assist in all aspects of the Office’s work with a view to being able to take the lead on a Bill once they are promoted to the grade of Deputy Director (see further below).

APCs are supervised in their work, with the level of supervision reducing as they grow in expertise and experience, but will be responsible for drafting legislation from the beginning of their time in the Office. Although one drafter generally takes the lead on each Bill, and the First Parliamentary Counsel (the head of the Office) and team leaders oversee the work, the Office is a collaborative and non-hierarchical environment in which all contributions are welcome. APCs, working alongside a more experienced drafter, may be drafting deeply complex or controversial provisions from their very first day.

The main tasks of an APC are:

• To assist in drafting Bills which are effective, clearly written and well-structured (by both drafting and reviewing the work of other drafters);
• To work with officials across Government to ensure that the process of Bill preparation, publication and Parliamentary handling is handled effectively and efficiently;
• To provide advice to Government departments on parliamentary procedure;
• To review, draft and advise on some subordinate legislation;
• To contribute to the training and development of other drafters, departmental lawyers, policy advisers and members of Bill teams (who coordinate work on a Bill);
• To contribute actively to the wider objectives of the Office (providing a high-quality drafting service, leading the legislative drafting profession within government, and promoting good law).

We have an extensive induction and training programme, though new APCs usually find they learn most on the job from working with more experienced colleagues.

Once they reach the required standard to take the lead on a Bill, APCs can expect to be promoted to Parliamentary Counsel at the grade of Deputy Director, with a current starting salary of £87,000 (plus allowance rising to 35%). Parliamentary Counsel may be further promoted to Director, with a current starting salary of £100,000 (plus allowance rising to 35%).

The Office is divided into four teams, each of which drafts Bills for a group of Government departments and is led by a Director General.

See the Salary and Benefits section of the candidate information pack for further details of the allowance referred to above.

If, ahead of applying, you would like to find out more about what it is like working for the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, come to our online ‘Meet the Parliamentary Counsel’ panel event, which will be held on the evening of 19 January 2026. Please contact Emma Sampson (emma.sampson@cabinetoffice.gov.uk) to register your interest.

Person specification

It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement that you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.

Essential Criteria:

We are looking for lawyers who are motivated to produce legislation of the highest quality and who have the following skills and attributes:

• Excellent powers of analysis and reliable judgement in applying that analysis;

The skills and personal qualities we are looking for can be demonstrated through a wide range of legal and other experience.

We encourage and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, and particularly welcome applications from people who are disabled or who are black, Asian or from minority ethnic groups, as they are currently under-represented in the Office.

Qualifications

You should have a good honours degree (2:1 or above or an overseas equivalent) in any subject. Applicants who do not have a 2:1 degree are considered only where they provide strong evidence of equivalent high level academic and/or professional achievement.

You must be qualified to practise as a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales or Northern Ireland or a solicitor or advocate in Scotland. You must have completed a training contract, pupillage, qualifying employment or equivalent, or have been exempted from this by the relevant regulatory body.

Chartered Legal Executives are also eligible to apply if:

I. they hold a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD);

II. they have completed the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE; or

III. they have passed exams (i.e. a score of 50% or above achieved), at CILEx Level 6*, in all of the following seven foundation subjects in law:

i. Contract Law

ii. Criminal Law

iii. Equity and Trusts Law

iv. European Union Law

v. Land Law

vi. Public Law

vii. Law of Tort

Application

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application via CS Jobs by no later than 23.55, Monday 2nd February 2026. The online application will require you to:

1. Confirm you meet the minimum qualification criteria as to academic and professional qualifications. (Applications will undergo an initial sift to verify they meet the essential qualification requirements. Only candidates who meet these requirements will then progress to a full sift, where they will be assessed on their competence and experience in relation to the essential criteria).

2. Provide a CV containing a brief (max 500 words) overview of your career to date, setting out each employer, the dates of employment and a short factual description of your role (this is not the place to explain in great detail how you meet the selection criteria or to provide lengthy lists of your achievements).

3. Provide a statement of suitability in which you:

(a) briefly describe (max 250 words) your motivation for applying to join the Office, and

(b) explain (max 1000 words) how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your ability to meet the selection criteria. You should give concise concrete examples of things you have done which show how you meet the essential criteria in the person specification.

Please note, any words over the limits above will not be considered or scored. It is your responsibility to ensure that the word limits are met.

As part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say’. See the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy-2022-to-2025

Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with us via: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk