Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Rory Stewart]

There are a number of complex issues relating to homelessness, but we absolutely agree that this is unacceptable and shocking. We need to work much more closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, with local authorities and with prisons to ensure that we cut those numbers.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

3. What steps he is taking to ensure that legal aid is available to people who are entitled to that aid.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Lucy Frazer)]

The provision of legal aid to support the most vulnerable is an important part of our justice system. We spend £1.6 billion a year on legal aid, which is more than a fifth of the Ministry of Justice’s budget. In terms of accessing legal aid, there is an online tool at gov.uk to help people to check their entitlement to it.

[Derek Thomas]

I welcome that answer, but people in my constituency in west Cornwall find it hard to access the legal aid that they are entitled to. In fact, there is only one office there that holds a legal aid contract, and it deals only with family law. Will the Department assess how the changes in legal aid funding have affected rural people, and consider measures to address the shortage?