To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Ministry of Justice: Artificial Intelligence
Monday 7th August 2023

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many automated decision-making systems currently in use by the Ministry of Justice are used (even partially) to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements; and how many of those have publicly available equality impact assessments and/or data protection impact assessments.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to PQ 194023: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-07-13/194023.

However, none of the systems used in that response are used to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements.

The Ministry of Justice has well established processes for completing Equality Impact Assessments and Data Protection Impact Assessments to ensure data processing is lawful, necessary, and proportionate.


Written Question
Data Protection
Thursday 19th January 2023

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the past minutes of the (shadow) Senior Data Governance Panel will be published.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Under its Terms of Reference, a summary of the proceedings of the Senior Data Governance Panel will be published after each meeting.

The Panel’s Secretariat intend to issue during Spring 2023 a public summary of all previous meetings, which took place over the 24 months when the Panel was not yet formalised, alongside the public summary of the first formalised Panel meeting.


Written Question
Legal Aid Scheme: Finance
Thursday 18th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to using unspent funds from the legal aid budget for this financial year to fund law centres and other legal aid providers, based on what they would have received in any six month period, to ensure their viability.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

Data on legal aid expenditure is released quarterly by the Legal Aid Agency, with the next release scheduled for September.

MoJ is continuing to work closely with the Legal Aid Agency and HMCTS to assess the impact of Covid-19 on legal aid provision, and we are working closely with the sector to identify whether further support is required.

We have already introduced measures to support the sector, such as paying for virtual hearings in the same way as in-person hearings, halting pursuit of outstanding debts, relaxing some evidence requirements, and encouraging legal practitioners to use existing avenues of financial help, such as the ability to apply for early payment for work already done on a case. We have already put in place measures to bring forward funding by expanding the scope and evidence requirements for payment for work in progress in Crown Court cases.

We have recently announced that we will be providing £5.4m in funding to not-for-profit providers of specialist legal advice, including Law Centres, which should go some way to helping them address immediate cashflow problems and ensure they remain able to provide support for the communities they serve.


Written Question
Legal Profession: Coronavirus
Thursday 18th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will move to a grants-based system for funding legal services as recommended by the Low Commission report following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The government continues to recognise the importance of the legal support services and the essential role that they play in helping people resolve their legal problems.

Following our 2019 review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 reforms, the Ministry of Justice published the Legal Support Action Plan, which set out our vision for resolving legal problems earlier by ensuring that people can access the right legal support services at the right time, and in the right way for them. Whilst we do not intend to move to a fully grants based system for funding legal services, there are elements of the Legal Support Action Plan that drew on the recommendations of the Low Commission report.

COVID-19 interrupted significant elements of some of this work, as we reprioritised our focus on considering the impact of the pandemic on the legal support sector who support individuals in need of help.

As a result of this, the Ministry of Justice has secured emergency funding for the not-for-profit legal advice sector, including £5.4 million for providers of special legal advice. £3 million of this funding will go to Law Centres and this will be distributed through the Law Centres Network. The remainder of the funding, £2.4 million, will be contributed to the Community Justice Fund, administrated by the Access to Justice Foundation (ATJF), in order to provide funding for other non-specialist advice and support providers.

This funding will be additional to the £370 million of funding administrated by the National Lottery Communities Fund which qualifying third sector organisations, including those in the advice sector, will be able to bid for directly.

We have also continued existing work with the specialist advice sector and launched a new £3.1 million grant in partnership with the ATJF to enhance legal support for litigants in person over the next two years. This new grant is in addition to nearly £8m invested by the Ministry of Justice in support of litigants in person in the civil and family courts since 2015 through the Litigants in Person Support Strategy.


Written Question
Law Centres: Coronavirus
Tuesday 16th June 2020

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports (1) that Law Centres are experiencing financial problems as a result of court closures and consequential loss of legal aid income due to COVID-19, and (2) that some Law Centres are facing closure as a result; and what assessment they have made of the role of Law Centres in providing (a) direct legal services, and (b) hubs for volunteer pro bono lawyers.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

We recognise the valuable role that Law Centres, and the wider not-for-profit advice sector, play in local communities across the country, and we support them in this vital work.

We are aware that Law Centres may experience financial issues due to the Covid-19 pandemic and have been working at pace to implement options to support them and other not-for-profits who provide this important service.

I am pleased to say that the Government is allocating £5.4 million in funding to the not for profit providers of specialist legal advice. £3 million of this has been earmarked specifically for Law Centres.

The £5.4m Government is allocating to advice providers will go some way to help them address their immediate cashflow problems. This will help protect these vital organisations from collapse, ensuring they remain able to provide support to the communities they serve.

It will also enable them to continue to act as hubs for volunteer pro bono lawyers.