Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2012

Lord Bach Excerpts

Tuesday 8th January 2013 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Bach]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have in respect of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2012, which the House of Lords declined to approve on 3 December.

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord McNally)]

My Lords, as I made clear before the House voted on 3 December, if the fatal Motion was carried, the LASPO Act would not provide legal aid in the cases specified in the rejected statutory instrument. That remains the case.

[Lord Bach]

Does the Minister understand that that Answer is entirely unsatisfactory and does no credit to the Government? This House declined to accept the order because it represented a breach of a government undertaking given to another place to get the legal aid Bill through and because what it offered was too mean. Why are the Government taking absolutely no notice of the will of this House of Parliament? Are they not behaving more like a spoilt child than a mature, responsible Government, protecting the legal rights of some of the poorest citizens under their care, including many with disabilities?

[Lord McNally]

I think that the noble Lord got all his soundbites in there.