Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Legal Aid Agency is taking to engage with local legal aid providers to increase legal aid provision.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is vital that those who need legal aid—some of the most vulnerable people in our society—can access it wherever they live.
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) monitors provider numbers in each procurement area and across all categories of law. It takes operational action where it can, to respond to market pressures that may arise.
At a local level, LAA hold market engagement events to understand challenges to service delivery for particular categories of law, considering how it can remove any barriers or manage concerns which could deter providers from bidding for a legal aid contract.
The LAA consults with provider representative bodies on any proposed contractual changes, with the aim of incentivising legal aid work. Acting on feedback the LAA has made changes to reduce perceived barriers to holding contracts such as increasing the use of remote working, amending supervisor standards and introducing greater flexibility in office requirements.
Legal aid contracts are now offered on an ‘always on’ basis, meaning providers can apply at any time, not just during a fixed bidding window as before. This flexible approach lets new organisations join when ready and allows providers to grow their services. It removes strict deadlines and helps ensure services are widely available. The new crime contract lasts ten years, twice as long as before, making it easier for firms to plan ahead and reducing paperwork. These changes were brought in following considerable market engagement and have been widely welcomed.
The LAA works closely with the Ministry of Justice on policy solutions concerning the supply of legal aid. The Department recently closed a consultation on uplifts to civil legal aid fees. Once implemented, these changes would inject an additional £20 million into the sector each year, and is currently consulting on funding of up to £92 million more a year for criminal legal aid solicitors.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Legal Aid Agency’s digital systems are cyber-secure.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The recent data breach is the result of heinous criminal activity, but it was enabled by the fragility of the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) IT systems as a result of the long years of underinvestment under the last Conservative Government. By contrast, since taking power this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the LAA digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.
The cyber-attack is subject to an ongoing investigation and the LAA continues to work closely with the National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre. As a precautionary measure the LAA’s digital services have been taken offline. The decision to bring LAA services back online will include a comprehensive security assessment.
Appropriate actions have been taken to mitigate the impact of the attack and contingency measures have been put in place to ensure those most in need of legal support and advice can continue to access the help they need during this time, as outlined on LAA’s dedicated information page.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the amount spent by the Legal Aid Agency on processing exceptional case funding in the 2024-25 financial year, broken down by (a) category of law and (b) case complexity.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
The unit cost of processing an application is not specifically tracked or recorded by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), nor is the operating expenditure relating to exceptional case funding (ECF) recorded separately to general legal aid operating expenditure. Information about the operational costs of administering the legal aid scheme is set out in the LAA’s Annual Report and Accounts.
It is not possible to provide costs relating to, or to make an estimate of the costs relating to, processing an application or any part of the application process or overall operational costs associated with the ECF scheme.
Although the LAA records some information about appeal processing times, it does not distinguish between appeals submitted by clients with legal representatives and those without. Information relating to civil legal aid processing times can be found here and criminal legal aid processing times can be found here.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average appeal waiting times are for legal aid cases by (a) represented and (b) unrepresented cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
The unit cost of processing an application is not specifically tracked or recorded by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), nor is the operating expenditure relating to exceptional case funding (ECF) recorded separately to general legal aid operating expenditure. Information about the operational costs of administering the legal aid scheme is set out in the LAA’s Annual Report and Accounts.
It is not possible to provide costs relating to, or to make an estimate of the costs relating to, processing an application or any part of the application process or overall operational costs associated with the ECF scheme.
Although the LAA records some information about appeal processing times, it does not distinguish between appeals submitted by clients with legal representatives and those without. Information relating to civil legal aid processing times can be found here and criminal legal aid processing times can be found here.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much and what proportion of Legal Aid exceptional case funding was spent on (a) the means test assessment process and (b) operational costs in the last financial year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.
The unit cost of processing an application is not specifically tracked or recorded by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), nor is the operating expenditure relating to exceptional case funding (ECF) recorded separately to general legal aid operating expenditure. Information about the operational costs of administering the legal aid scheme is set out in the LAA’s Annual Report and Accounts.
It is not possible to provide costs relating to, or to make an estimate of the costs relating to, processing an application or any part of the application process or overall operational costs associated with the ECF scheme.
Although the LAA records some information about appeal processing times, it does not distinguish between appeals submitted by clients with legal representatives and those without. Information relating to civil legal aid processing times can be found here and criminal legal aid processing times can be found here.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil legal aid offices with a civil legal aid contract started zero cases by each (a) local authority and (b) area of law in the (i) 2022-23, (ii) 2023-24 and (iii) 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information can be found in the attached table.
Data for 2024-2025 is a year-to-date figure reflective of the work reported between 1 April 2024 to 31 January, inclusive. As such it is not directly comparable with 2022-23 and 2023-24. Please note that the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) commissions and monitors the provision of legal aid services by ‘Procurement Area’ rather than by local authority. Procurement areas differ for different categories of law.
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes information about the number of providers and offices which hold a legal aid contract and number of legal aid offices completing work in each period as part of its official statistics [see tables 9.1-9.8].
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce civil court backlogs.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The courts, as the cornerstone of the civil justice system, play a crucial role in supporting economic growth, enabling businesses and citizens to resolve disputes in a timely fashion and uphold their rights.
Though most civil claims made in the county courts result in a default judgment or out-of-court settlement, there have been long standing challenges with delays in the 3% of claims that require a full trial. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is working in partnership with the judiciary to address this.
We have increased the use of mediation, making mediation a requirement in all defended claims for under £10,000. This enables more claims to reach a consensual resolution at an earlier stage and frees up resource to deal with those claims that require judicial determination. In addition, increased digital working through our reformed systems allow money claims, including those involving businesses with legal representation, to reach trial readiness over three times quicker than paper claims.
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil legal aid offices with a civil legal aid contract started less than five cases by each (a) local authority and (b) area of law in the (i) 2022-23, (ii) 2023-24 and (iii) 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information can be found in the attached table.
Data for 2024-2025 is a year-to-date figure reflective of the work reported between 1 April 2024 to 31 January, inclusive. As such it is not directly comparable with 2022-23 and 2023-24. Please note that the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) commissions and monitors the provision of legal aid services by ‘Procurement Area’ rather than by local authority. Procurement areas differ for different categories of law.
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes information about the number of providers and offices which hold a legal aid contract and number of legal aid offices completing work in each period as part of its official statistics [see tables 9.1-9.8].
Asked by: Henry Tufnell (Labour - Mid and South Pembrokeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to justice for rural communities.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Secretary of State for Transport
Access to justice is integral to a fair society, including for our rural communities. That’s why we want to ensure effective and timely access to justice, including through our legal aid system and the broader network of legal support services, and by making best use of modern technology in providing advice.
In our courts and tribunals, modernised services and more effective use of technology are improving people’s access to the justice system across the country.