Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding the Government has allocated to legal aid in England and Wales in each financial year since 2010.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The previous Government left the legal aid system under significant strain following years of neglect. This Government has begun to put legal aid back on a sustainable footing by investing up to £92 million in addition per year by the end of this Parliament in criminal legal aid and £20 million additional each year in immigration and housing legal aid.
We have also announced our response to the Crime Lower consultation from 2024. That confirmed we are uplifting the lowest police station fees, introducing a new Youth Court fee scheme, and paying for travel time in certain circumstances. Together, these changes will provide a £24 million boost for criminal legal aid providers.
The Lord Chancellor has a duty to ensure that legal aid is made available in accordance with the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, for cases where the relevant eligibility criteria are met.
The Ministry of Justice works within HM Treasury allocations as shown in the Main and Supplementary Estimates (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-main-estimates) each year. However, the nature of legal aid funding means that it is demand led, and as such the Ministry of Justice ensures sufficient allocation is made to cover the incurred costs.
Legal aid expenditure since 2010 is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics. The most recent publication can be viewed here, and includes expenditure up to 31 December 2024.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 10 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)
Regarding the number of civil offices starting zero cases, I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 11 March to Question 35876.
The number of civil legal aid offices with a civil legal aid contract which started fewer than 10 cases can be found in the attached table.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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)
Regarding the number of civil offices starting zero cases, I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 11 March to Question 35876.
The number of civil legal aid offices with a civil legal aid contract which started fewer than 10 cases can be found in the attached table.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she has taken to increase provision of legal aid in the south west of England.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data regarding the number of civil legal aid providers in Truro and Falmouth is set out in the below table:
Year | Falmouth | Truro |
2011 |
| 8 |
2012 |
| 4 |
2013 |
| 8 |
2014 |
| 6 |
2015 |
| 6 |
2016 |
| 5 |
2017 |
| 9 |
2018 |
| 10 |
2019 | 1 | 5 |
2020 | 1 | 5 |
2021 | 1 | 5 |
2022 | 1 | 5 |
2023 | 1 | 5 |
2024 | 1 | 6 |
2025 | 1 | 7 |
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is responsible for commissioning legal aid services in England and Wales. The LAA monitors the numbers of providers in each procurement area and across all categories of law. It takes operational action to respond to market pressures that may arise and works closely with the Ministry of Justice on policy solutions concerning the supply of legal aid.
For civil contracts, the LAA aims to ensure supply across designated procurement areas, as opposed to specific towns or counties. The procurement areas may be different for different categories of law and the LAA aims to ensure the commissioning standard for each procurement area in each category of law is met throughout the life cycle of its contracts. The commissioning standard for the Southwest, which encompasses Truro and Falmouth, is currently met across all categories.
Generally, the LAA has changed its approach to commissioning for legal aid services. Procurement for legal aid contracts is now operated under the ‘always on principle’ so that the procurement remains open during the life of the contract. This is a significant change from the previous approach where firms could only bid to join at the initial tender of what typically was a five-year contract term. This new approach enables new entrants to apply for a contract at any time and for existing providers to expand their services. It is a more flexible approach, removing hard deadlines and maximising the available supply of services.
Further, the Ministry of Justice has undertaken a comprehensive review of civil legal aid and recently concluded a consultation on uplifts to housing & debt and immigration & asylum legal aid fees, which when implemented, would inject an additional £20 million into the sector each year. We are currently reviewing consultation responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data her Department holds on the number of civil legal aid firms in Truro and Falmouth for each year data is available.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data regarding the number of civil legal aid providers in Truro and Falmouth is set out in the below table:
Year | Falmouth | Truro |
2011 |
| 8 |
2012 |
| 4 |
2013 |
| 8 |
2014 |
| 6 |
2015 |
| 6 |
2016 |
| 5 |
2017 |
| 9 |
2018 |
| 10 |
2019 | 1 | 5 |
2020 | 1 | 5 |
2021 | 1 | 5 |
2022 | 1 | 5 |
2023 | 1 | 5 |
2024 | 1 | 6 |
2025 | 1 | 7 |
The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is responsible for commissioning legal aid services in England and Wales. The LAA monitors the numbers of providers in each procurement area and across all categories of law. It takes operational action to respond to market pressures that may arise and works closely with the Ministry of Justice on policy solutions concerning the supply of legal aid.
For civil contracts, the LAA aims to ensure supply across designated procurement areas, as opposed to specific towns or counties. The procurement areas may be different for different categories of law and the LAA aims to ensure the commissioning standard for each procurement area in each category of law is met throughout the life cycle of its contracts. The commissioning standard for the Southwest, which encompasses Truro and Falmouth, is currently met across all categories.
Generally, the LAA has changed its approach to commissioning for legal aid services. Procurement for legal aid contracts is now operated under the ‘always on principle’ so that the procurement remains open during the life of the contract. This is a significant change from the previous approach where firms could only bid to join at the initial tender of what typically was a five-year contract term. This new approach enables new entrants to apply for a contract at any time and for existing providers to expand their services. It is a more flexible approach, removing hard deadlines and maximising the available supply of services.
Further, the Ministry of Justice has undertaken a comprehensive review of civil legal aid and recently concluded a consultation on uplifts to housing & debt and immigration & asylum legal aid fees, which when implemented, would inject an additional £20 million into the sector each year. We are currently reviewing consultation responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the funding criteria for the Museum Renewal Fund to include museums that are independent charities.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Museum Renewal Fund, delivered by Arts Council England, will invest an additional £20m in our treasured civic museums across England, and is now open to applicants.
Museums run by independent charities are eligible to apply, where they have links to Local Authorities, which can be evidenced in a number of ways, as set out in the guidance: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/our-open-funds/museum-renewal-fund-2025-26.
This government is committed to supporting museums to continue doing what they do best: serving communities, caring for and sharing Collections, and telling our national story at a local level. The government operates several tax and grant schemes for museums, including the Museum Estate and Development Fund, Museums VAT Refund Scheme, and Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax relief, to support large numbers of museums all over the country.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the NHS Find a dentist website in relation to information on accepting new NHS patients to remove the selectable option of When availability allows and instead replace it with options of either Yes or No.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service dentists are required to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days to ensure patients have up-to-date information on where they can access care. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. The NHS.UK website was updated in April 2024 to include the ‘when availability allows’ option to reflect that the availability of appointments may change over time, which is more reflective of the way NHS dentists work.
Integrated care boards can review which practices in their area have not updated their profile in a 90-day period, and work with practices to ensure that their websites are up to date.
Patients in England are not registered with an NHS dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of using the Child Maintenance Service on the (a) mental health and wellbeing of its users and (b) relationships between separated parents when inaccurate awards are made and not amended.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to ensuring it delivers a safe service which is sensitive to the needs of all customers that use it.
We recognise that some customers may face difficult circumstances particularly at a time of separation and the need to handle customer cases sensitively and accurately, particularly around calculations.
We introduced a Customer Experience Strategy and an Implementation Plan which aims to fully equip caseworkers with the tools, skills and support required to deliver service excellence. We are well prepared to respond quickly and effectively if we become aware that the mental health and wellbeing of any customer is at risk. Caseworkers have received extensive training and follow a well-managed process with clear steps, support tools and procedures to support vulnerable parents experiencing financial or emotional crisis. This includes the National District Provision Toolkit and Affordability Hub which provides invaluable information to allow caseworkers to signpost to national and local support organisations for debt help and mental health assistance across the UK.
To ensure calculations are accurate the department continues to build on its already proportionate and cost-effective controls, such as:
Where a single accidental error relating to the maintenance calculation is made, a challenge can be raised by a parent or their representative within time, and corrections can be applied by a caseworker without the need for a mandatory reconsideration (MR).
We have introduced a robust 3 Tier Quality Framework to rigorously monitor accuracy as part of our service ambition to further reduce error and increase our accuracy levels. The National Audit Office set a target of monetary value errors under 1%. CMS accuracy consistently meets this, remaining above 99% accuracy.
The government has also committed to reviewing the calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose and reflects today’s trends. Any changes will be subject to extensive consultation and legislation brought forward where necessary for approval.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on the number of producers switching from glass to plastic packaging.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have considered feedback from all material sectors, which has included including feedback from the glass sector on the risks of material switching towards plastic and fibre-based composite packaging. We have received limited evidence of decisions to investigate or implement switching. The evidence received indicates expected lead time for major products of at least one to two years to implement any decisions. We continue to engage with the glass sector on reuse which will bring environmental benefits and a reduction in EPR liabilities.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department undertook research on Extended Producer Responsibility schemes in other countries during the design of the proposed weight-related fee structure for his proposed scheme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has engaged with and sought to learn from a range of schemes in Europe and further afield in the design of our pEPR scheme, both in the development of policy and implementation of the scheme. As a result, our approach limits producers’ costs to those of efficient and effective collection systems and apportions these between materials based on the costs of their management using appropriate weight and volume-based metrics. This is in line with international good practice.