So when is the government going to publish its Justice Bill, containing the legal aid reforms, Jackson proposals on civil litigation funding and sentencing reforms?

This is the question to which everyone wants an answer.

Speculation on the date has been rife, with dates suggested from the end of May, 8 June, 15 June and 20 June.

Sources close to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke indicated to the Gazette last week that the bill has to be laid by 16 June at the latest in order for it to get through parliament in the current session.

However, the widespread reports today that Clarke may have to shelve key planks of his proposed sentencing reforms, has prompted speculation that the bill will be delayed by some weeks.

As reported in the Gazette last week, it appears that proposals to save £130 million by reducing the prison population are to be dropped.

Clarke had proposed that defendants would get a 50% reduction in their prison sentence if they entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.

But following a backlash from some sections of the media over Clarke’s comments on rape, and opposition to the proposals from some Tory MPs, it seems that the prime minister David Cameron has intervened to ask the Ministry of Justice to go back to the drawing board on the plan.

The MoJ is giving nothing away.

It will not comment on what will or will not be in the bill, or on speculation in the media.

When asked for an indication of when the bill will be published, the MoJ replies over the last couple of weeks have been ‘in due course’ and ‘shortly’.

Today, the most that a spokesman would say was that ‘publication is expected in the next few weeks’.

The Home Office said the bill and its timing was a matter for the MoJ, even though home secretary Teresa May had given briefings on sentencing reform this morning, and was reported to have said that the bill has been delayed.

Number 10 would neither confirm nor deny the prime minister’s involvement in the process, or that the sentencing proposals are to be amended.

All its spokeswoman would say was that the government had consulted on ‘proposals’ set out in the green paper, and a policy announcement will be made in due course.

What seems to be clear is that things are definitely up in the air, and the various government departments themselves do not seem to know what the situation is.

Reading between the lines from the scraps of information being dragged out of government spokespeople, and piecing together the morsels gathered from our sources, it appears that the MoJ is keen to get the bill out there as soon as possible.

That’s because if the MoJ cannot find the £130m savings it had planned to from its sentencing reforms (because it was overruled by Downing Street), it wants the Treasury to stump up the cash instead.

The MoJ does not want the bill to be pushed back until it comes up with an alternative savings plan.

Instead it wants to use the imminent publication of the bill as leverage to encourage the Treasury to cough up. Or so some experts believe.

The Treasury would not comment on whether it had been approached for assistance from the MoJ, but a spokeswoman said it will ‘not be reopening the settlement in the spending review’.

What does this mean for legal aid lawyers?

Well, if Clarke can persuade the Treasury to bail him out, he may not need to look to the legal aid budget, which is already facing a £350m cut, to find further savings.

So, perhaps legal aid lawyers should hope that the bill is published as soon as possible.

A delay might imply that Clarke has been unable to do a deal with the purse holders, and has to find further savings.

And no doubt the legal aid pot would seem one of the most likely for him to raid.