Criminal Legal Aid
Debate between Mike Kane and Shailesh Vara(8 years, 10 months ago)
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Mr Vara
I refer the hon. Lady to the Chancellor’s autumn statement. He said he would be allowing £700 million-plus for the courts reform programme and there would be £1.3 billion for reforming the Prison Service. We in the MOJ are also consolidating our estates programme generally in terms of the offices and space we use. If the hon. Lady reads the statement, she will also be aware that my Department will be making 50% administration cuts by 2019-20.
Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)
The Justice team must be spinning like tops at the moment. Would the Minister care to estimate how many U-turns there have been since the new Secretary of State took his position?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mike Kane and Shailesh Vara(8 years, 11 months ago)
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Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East) (Lab)
4. What plans he has to reintroduce the residence test for legal aid.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Shailesh Vara)
The Government are committed to the civil legal aid residence test and are planning the next steps following the success in the Court of Appeal. Individuals should have a strong connection to the UK to benefit from the civil legal aid scheme.
Mike Kane
The Minister was forced to admit last year that there were no precise figures for any savings from this policy area. The policy was also criticised by the Joint Committee on Human Rights and is subject to further legal scrutiny under the Supreme Court. Is it not time that the Minister gave up the ghost on this failed area of policy?
Mr Vara
Given the Court of Appeal judgment on 25 November, when it sided with the Government, we have no intention of giving up on this. It is important to remember that people who seek to have benefit from UK taxpayers should show some connection to this country. It is perfectly reasonable to expect people to have continuous 12-month residency in the UK before they benefit from UK taxpayers’ money for their legal aid.