Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the remit of legal aid to enable eligible individuals to receive advice on (a) social housing allocations and (b) disputes over the allocation of social housing.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Legal aid is available for possession, evictions, homelessness, and disrepair claims (when there is a serious risk of illness or injury) subject to a financial means test and a merits test. This includes when someone is homeless, or at risk of homelessness, in relation to the allocation of social housing.

Additionally, the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service provides free early legal advice on housing matters, council tax reduction schemes, debt, and welfare benefits problems from the moment someone receives notice of possession or eviction, regardless of their financial situation.

At present there are no plans to expand eligibility in this area.

The Ministry of Justice has undertaken a comprehensive review of civil legal aid and recently concluded a consultation on uplifts to housing & debt legal aid fees, which when implemented, would inject an additional £20 million into the sector each year. This would increase overall spend in housing & debt legal aid by 24% and improve access to legal advice for people facing unfair housing battles or who are at risk of losing their home. We are currently reviewing consultation responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course.

Applicants for social housing have the right to request information from the local authority about the decision that has been made in respect of their application and to ask for an internal review of any decision taken about the facts of their case. The local authority must notify them of the outcome of the review and the grounds for it.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on media freedom in that country.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is a resolute supporter of democracy, the rule of law and media freedom. This Government has discussed recent events in Turkey with our counterparts at a number of levels. Most recently, on 29 March, the Foreign Secretary spoke to his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. Among other issues he raised our expectation that as a key friend and ally, Turkey upholds its international commitments, the rule of law and protects the fundamental rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and media freedom, including the treatment of British and other journalists reporting there.