Oral Answers to Questions

Oliver Colvile Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab)]

1. When he next plans to announce progress on his legal aid proposals.

[Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)]

10. What progress he has made on reducing the cost to the public purse of legal aid.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

14. What progress he has made on reducing the cost to the public purse of legal aid.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Grayling]

We will clearly continue to review those matters. The decisions that we are making are of course difficult, but we have to make them because we have to bring down the cost of legal aid to deal with the enormous financial challenges that we face. We would not have wished to take these decisions, but given the inheritance that we received from the last Government, there is no option but to do so.

[Oliver Colvile]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the reforms are designed to impact on those who receive the most in legal aid fees, while protecting those at the lower end of the scale?

[Chris Grayling]

I can confirm that. In taking a range of difficult decisions, we have sought to ensure that the impact is felt most significantly higher up the income scale. I am well aware that people at the junior end of the income scale face considerably more financial pressure than those who are further up. We have sought to put together a package that has a disproportionate impact further up the income scale, for example through our changes to very high cost case fees.