Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to support the children of people who are imprisoned.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government recently published the first official statistics to estimate the number of children affected by parental imprisonment using administrative government data. It's estimated that between 1 October 2021 and 1 October 2022 there were around 193,000 children with a parent in prison. We fully recognise the importance of being able to identify children with a parent in prison to make sure they receive the support they need, which is why a commitment on this was included in our manifesto.
The Ministry of Justice is working closely with the Department for Education who hold responsibility for children to determine how effectively identify these children and provide support for both them and for the parent in prison. The support will be informed by learnings from previous interventions and pilots, and engagement both with those with lived experience and organisations from the Voluntary, Charity and Social Enterprise sector.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of child safeguarding monitoring after a child’s parent is imprisoned.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has recently reviewed its Child Safeguarding and Prison Public Protection policies, so as to enhance their effectiveness, notably in relation to monitoring and mitigating risks to children. HMPPS staff are required to check if prisoners received into custody have caring responsibilities for any children, to exchange information with Children’s Services and record known safeguarding concerns. There are robust arrangements for monitoring those cases where an adult in prison is identified as posing a risk to children.
HMPPS has worked with the Department for Education to review and update the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance, which was published in December 2023. The updated guidance helps to strengthen the arrangements between HMPPS and local Children’s Services, particularly in relation to responding to child safeguarding concerns and collaborating to improve outcomes for children at risk of abuse or neglect.
In July this year we produced the first official statistics on children of prisoners, estimating that over the course of a year around 193,000 children in England and Wales may be affected by a parent being in, or going to, prison. We recognise there is more that can be done to make sure that children with a parent in prison do not fall through the cracks, which is why this Government has committed to ensuring that those young people are identified and offered the support they need.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children have (a) parents and (b) guardians who are imprisoned; and how many of those children are living without an adult guardian.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government recently published the first official statistics to estimate the number of children affected by parental imprisonment using administrative government data. It's estimated that between 1 October 2021 and 1 October 2022 there were around 193,000 children with a parent in prison. These statistics take a broad view of parental responsibility and include those with caring responsibility, legal guardianship, or primary care for a child, and therefore we are unable to split the data out into separate figures for those with a parent and those with a guardian. The Department for Education who hold responsibility for children, and the Ministry of Justice both fully recognise the importance of being able to identify children with a parent in prison.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the need for reform of sentence progression for prisoners who remain in custody on historic Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences who have served their minimum terms.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government is determined to make further progress towards a safe and sustainable release for those serving the IPP sentence. We believe that it is right that these sentences were abolished, and in Opposition we supported changes made in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 to the IPP licence period and the introduction of a statutory requirement for the Government to publish an IPP annual report on the steps taken to support rehabilitation and progress towards release from prison or licence termination.
We are committed to working with all organisations who seek to ensure the appropriate course of action is taken to enhance support for those still serving IPP sentences.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of access to housing legal aid; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding housing legal aid to include (a) welfare benefits advice, (b) early housing advice and (c) advice on disrepair compensation claims.
Answered by Mike Freer
In March 2022, the Ministry of Justice consulted on several changes to the civil and criminal legal aid means tests to ensure that legal aid remains accessible to all who need it. When implemented, the changes will increase the number of people eligible for civil legal aid in England and Wales by an additional 2.5 million.
At the Crown Court, the Government has also proposed removing the current £37,500 disposable income threshold; if implemented, this would mean that all defendants at the Crown Court would be eligible for legal aid and so would not have to pay privately, though a proportion may be required to pay a monthly income contribution towards their legal costs.
Whilst the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) introduced changes to the scope of legal aid, legal aid services continued to be delivered following LASPO. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes statistics regarding new cases completed and started in each period by legal aid scheme with additional breakdowns by region and by Controlled and Licensed Work at tables 9.1-5.
The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure additional provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services, which may vary across different categories of law and across different geographic regions, is met. Legal advice on a range of civil matters including housing, debt, discrimination, and education is available, wherever people are, through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.
The Ministry of Justice continues to consider the long-term sustainability of the criminal and civil legal aid market. Following publication of our full response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR) on 30 November 2022, we have boosted the system with immediate investment to address the most urgent concerns, including uplifts of 15% to most legal aid fee schemes.
Our plans will put criminal legal aid on a sustainable footing and ensure there is a sustainable supply of practitioners. Criminal legal aid spend is expected to increase to £1.2 billion per year, which is the highest level since 2010.
We have also recently launched a review of civil legal aid to identify evidence-based options which will help inform our longer-term strategy for improving the sustainability and effectiveness of the civil legal aid system.
Concerning legal aid for housing matters, the 2019 Post Implementation Review of Part 1 of LASPO found that individuals experiencing social welfare problems, especially related to housing matters, struggle to resolve their problems early, often leading to a clustering of problems. This in turn requires costly intervention at the courts and increases pressure on social services. In response, the MoJ is amending LASPO to expand the scope of legal aid for people facing the loss of their home to include early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits from 1 August 2023 through the creation of the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).
It is hoped that the HLPAS will enable individuals to resolve matters before court proceedings take place, reducing homelessness and pressure on the courts. HLPAS will also support housing legal aid providers, providing payment for the early legal advice and improving renumeration rates for delivering the court duty service. Up to £10m in annual funding has been made available for HLPAS.
In addition, since 31 October 2022 we have been piloting early legal advice on certain housing, debt and welfare benefits matters in Manchester and Middlesbrough to test the impact of early legal advice on resolving an individual’s problem more quickly. The pilot ended on 31 March 2023 and a final evaluation report is expected in July 2023.
Legal aid remains available for disrepair cases when there is a serious threat of illness or injury. Anyone in this position should contact the Civil Legal Advice helpline.
Whilst the MoJ continually monitors the latest data on possession proceedings, we are unable to assess the impact of LASPO on any trends in possession proceedings, evictions, homelessness levels and numbers of successful application for local Government homelessness assistance. This is because we cannot isolate any LASPO impact from changes over the same period.
Information concerning housing legal aid providers can be found here:
Legal aid statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of the availability of access to housing legal aid on (a) numbers of evictions, (b) enforcement of tenants’ rights and (c) the number of legal proceedings brought forward relating to housing.
Answered by Mike Freer
In March 2022, the Ministry of Justice consulted on several changes to the civil and criminal legal aid means tests to ensure that legal aid remains accessible to all who need it. When implemented, the changes will increase the number of people eligible for civil legal aid in England and Wales by an additional 2.5 million.
At the Crown Court, the Government has also proposed removing the current £37,500 disposable income threshold; if implemented, this would mean that all defendants at the Crown Court would be eligible for legal aid and so would not have to pay privately, though a proportion may be required to pay a monthly income contribution towards their legal costs.
Whilst the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) introduced changes to the scope of legal aid, legal aid services continued to be delivered following LASPO. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes statistics regarding new cases completed and started in each period by legal aid scheme with additional breakdowns by region and by Controlled and Licensed Work at tables 9.1-5.
The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure additional provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services, which may vary across different categories of law and across different geographic regions, is met. Legal advice on a range of civil matters including housing, debt, discrimination, and education is available, wherever people are, through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.
The Ministry of Justice continues to consider the long-term sustainability of the criminal and civil legal aid market. Following publication of our full response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR) on 30 November 2022, we have boosted the system with immediate investment to address the most urgent concerns, including uplifts of 15% to most legal aid fee schemes.
Our plans will put criminal legal aid on a sustainable footing and ensure there is a sustainable supply of practitioners. Criminal legal aid spend is expected to increase to £1.2 billion per year, which is the highest level since 2010.
We have also recently launched a review of civil legal aid to identify evidence-based options which will help inform our longer-term strategy for improving the sustainability and effectiveness of the civil legal aid system.
Concerning legal aid for housing matters, the 2019 Post Implementation Review of Part 1 of LASPO found that individuals experiencing social welfare problems, especially related to housing matters, struggle to resolve their problems early, often leading to a clustering of problems. This in turn requires costly intervention at the courts and increases pressure on social services. In response, the MoJ is amending LASPO to expand the scope of legal aid for people facing the loss of their home to include early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits from 1 August 2023 through the creation of the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).
It is hoped that the HLPAS will enable individuals to resolve matters before court proceedings take place, reducing homelessness and pressure on the courts. HLPAS will also support housing legal aid providers, providing payment for the early legal advice and improving renumeration rates for delivering the court duty service. Up to £10m in annual funding has been made available for HLPAS.
In addition, since 31 October 2022 we have been piloting early legal advice on certain housing, debt and welfare benefits matters in Manchester and Middlesbrough to test the impact of early legal advice on resolving an individual’s problem more quickly. The pilot ended on 31 March 2023 and a final evaluation report is expected in July 2023.
Legal aid remains available for disrepair cases when there is a serious threat of illness or injury. Anyone in this position should contact the Civil Legal Advice helpline.
Whilst the MoJ continually monitors the latest data on possession proceedings, we are unable to assess the impact of LASPO on any trends in possession proceedings, evictions, homelessness levels and numbers of successful application for local Government homelessness assistance. This is because we cannot isolate any LASPO impact from changes over the same period.
Information concerning housing legal aid providers can be found here:
Legal aid statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012) on the (a) availability, (b) effectiveness and (c) durability of legal aid firms providing housing advice services.
Answered by Mike Freer
In March 2022, the Ministry of Justice consulted on several changes to the civil and criminal legal aid means tests to ensure that legal aid remains accessible to all who need it. When implemented, the changes will increase the number of people eligible for civil legal aid in England and Wales by an additional 2.5 million.
At the Crown Court, the Government has also proposed removing the current £37,500 disposable income threshold; if implemented, this would mean that all defendants at the Crown Court would be eligible for legal aid and so would not have to pay privately, though a proportion may be required to pay a monthly income contribution towards their legal costs.
Whilst the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) introduced changes to the scope of legal aid, legal aid services continued to be delivered following LASPO. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes statistics regarding new cases completed and started in each period by legal aid scheme with additional breakdowns by region and by Controlled and Licensed Work at tables 9.1-5.
The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure additional provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services, which may vary across different categories of law and across different geographic regions, is met. Legal advice on a range of civil matters including housing, debt, discrimination, and education is available, wherever people are, through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.
The Ministry of Justice continues to consider the long-term sustainability of the criminal and civil legal aid market. Following publication of our full response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR) on 30 November 2022, we have boosted the system with immediate investment to address the most urgent concerns, including uplifts of 15% to most legal aid fee schemes.
Our plans will put criminal legal aid on a sustainable footing and ensure there is a sustainable supply of practitioners. Criminal legal aid spend is expected to increase to £1.2 billion per year, which is the highest level since 2010.
We have also recently launched a review of civil legal aid to identify evidence-based options which will help inform our longer-term strategy for improving the sustainability and effectiveness of the civil legal aid system.
Concerning legal aid for housing matters, the 2019 Post Implementation Review of Part 1 of LASPO found that individuals experiencing social welfare problems, especially related to housing matters, struggle to resolve their problems early, often leading to a clustering of problems. This in turn requires costly intervention at the courts and increases pressure on social services. In response, the MoJ is amending LASPO to expand the scope of legal aid for people facing the loss of their home to include early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits from 1 August 2023 through the creation of the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).
It is hoped that the HLPAS will enable individuals to resolve matters before court proceedings take place, reducing homelessness and pressure on the courts. HLPAS will also support housing legal aid providers, providing payment for the early legal advice and improving renumeration rates for delivering the court duty service. Up to £10m in annual funding has been made available for HLPAS.
In addition, since 31 October 2022 we have been piloting early legal advice on certain housing, debt and welfare benefits matters in Manchester and Middlesbrough to test the impact of early legal advice on resolving an individual’s problem more quickly. The pilot ended on 31 March 2023 and a final evaluation report is expected in July 2023.
Legal aid remains available for disrepair cases when there is a serious threat of illness or injury. Anyone in this position should contact the Civil Legal Advice helpline.
Whilst the MoJ continually monitors the latest data on possession proceedings, we are unable to assess the impact of LASPO on any trends in possession proceedings, evictions, homelessness levels and numbers of successful application for local Government homelessness assistance. This is because we cannot isolate any LASPO impact from changes over the same period.
Information concerning housing legal aid providers can be found here:
Legal aid statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012) (a) numbers of successful tenant defences at possessions proceedings, (b) numbers of evictions, (c) homelessness levels and (d) numbers of successful application for local Government homelessness assistance.
Answered by Mike Freer
In March 2022, the Ministry of Justice consulted on several changes to the civil and criminal legal aid means tests to ensure that legal aid remains accessible to all who need it. When implemented, the changes will increase the number of people eligible for civil legal aid in England and Wales by an additional 2.5 million.
At the Crown Court, the Government has also proposed removing the current £37,500 disposable income threshold; if implemented, this would mean that all defendants at the Crown Court would be eligible for legal aid and so would not have to pay privately, though a proportion may be required to pay a monthly income contribution towards their legal costs.
Whilst the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) introduced changes to the scope of legal aid, legal aid services continued to be delivered following LASPO. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes statistics regarding new cases completed and started in each period by legal aid scheme with additional breakdowns by region and by Controlled and Licensed Work at tables 9.1-5.
The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure additional provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services, which may vary across different categories of law and across different geographic regions, is met. Legal advice on a range of civil matters including housing, debt, discrimination, and education is available, wherever people are, through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.
The Ministry of Justice continues to consider the long-term sustainability of the criminal and civil legal aid market. Following publication of our full response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR) on 30 November 2022, we have boosted the system with immediate investment to address the most urgent concerns, including uplifts of 15% to most legal aid fee schemes.
Our plans will put criminal legal aid on a sustainable footing and ensure there is a sustainable supply of practitioners. Criminal legal aid spend is expected to increase to £1.2 billion per year, which is the highest level since 2010.
We have also recently launched a review of civil legal aid to identify evidence-based options which will help inform our longer-term strategy for improving the sustainability and effectiveness of the civil legal aid system.
Concerning legal aid for housing matters, the 2019 Post Implementation Review of Part 1 of LASPO found that individuals experiencing social welfare problems, especially related to housing matters, struggle to resolve their problems early, often leading to a clustering of problems. This in turn requires costly intervention at the courts and increases pressure on social services. In response, the MoJ is amending LASPO to expand the scope of legal aid for people facing the loss of their home to include early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits from 1 August 2023 through the creation of the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).
It is hoped that the HLPAS will enable individuals to resolve matters before court proceedings take place, reducing homelessness and pressure on the courts. HLPAS will also support housing legal aid providers, providing payment for the early legal advice and improving renumeration rates for delivering the court duty service. Up to £10m in annual funding has been made available for HLPAS.
In addition, since 31 October 2022 we have been piloting early legal advice on certain housing, debt and welfare benefits matters in Manchester and Middlesbrough to test the impact of early legal advice on resolving an individual’s problem more quickly. The pilot ended on 31 March 2023 and a final evaluation report is expected in July 2023.
Legal aid remains available for disrepair cases when there is a serious threat of illness or injury. Anyone in this position should contact the Civil Legal Advice helpline.
Whilst the MoJ continually monitors the latest data on possession proceedings, we are unable to assess the impact of LASPO on any trends in possession proceedings, evictions, homelessness levels and numbers of successful application for local Government homelessness assistance. This is because we cannot isolate any LASPO impact from changes over the same period.
Information concerning housing legal aid providers can be found here:
Legal aid statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of people who are unable to afford private legal fees and are ineligible for legal aid; whether his Department has identified areas of the country where there is a lack of legal aid services available across different legal specialisms; and if he will make an assessment of the impact of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012) on (a) the number of people who are unable to afford private legal fees and are ineligible for legal aid and (b) the areas where there is a lack of legal aid services available across different legal specialisms.
Answered by Mike Freer
In March 2022, the Ministry of Justice consulted on several changes to the civil and criminal legal aid means tests to ensure that legal aid remains accessible to all who need it. When implemented, the changes will increase the number of people eligible for civil legal aid in England and Wales by an additional 2.5 million.
At the Crown Court, the Government has also proposed removing the current £37,500 disposable income threshold; if implemented, this would mean that all defendants at the Crown Court would be eligible for legal aid and so would not have to pay privately, though a proportion may be required to pay a monthly income contribution towards their legal costs.
Whilst the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) introduced changes to the scope of legal aid, legal aid services continued to be delivered following LASPO. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes statistics regarding new cases completed and started in each period by legal aid scheme with additional breakdowns by region and by Controlled and Licensed Work at tables 9.1-5.
The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure additional provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services, which may vary across different categories of law and across different geographic regions, is met. Legal advice on a range of civil matters including housing, debt, discrimination, and education is available, wherever people are, through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.
The Ministry of Justice continues to consider the long-term sustainability of the criminal and civil legal aid market. Following publication of our full response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR) on 30 November 2022, we have boosted the system with immediate investment to address the most urgent concerns, including uplifts of 15% to most legal aid fee schemes.
Our plans will put criminal legal aid on a sustainable footing and ensure there is a sustainable supply of practitioners. Criminal legal aid spend is expected to increase to £1.2 billion per year, which is the highest level since 2010.
We have also recently launched a review of civil legal aid to identify evidence-based options which will help inform our longer-term strategy for improving the sustainability and effectiveness of the civil legal aid system.
Concerning legal aid for housing matters, the 2019 Post Implementation Review of Part 1 of LASPO found that individuals experiencing social welfare problems, especially related to housing matters, struggle to resolve their problems early, often leading to a clustering of problems. This in turn requires costly intervention at the courts and increases pressure on social services. In response, the MoJ is amending LASPO to expand the scope of legal aid for people facing the loss of their home to include early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits from 1 August 2023 through the creation of the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).
It is hoped that the HLPAS will enable individuals to resolve matters before court proceedings take place, reducing homelessness and pressure on the courts. HLPAS will also support housing legal aid providers, providing payment for the early legal advice and improving renumeration rates for delivering the court duty service. Up to £10m in annual funding has been made available for HLPAS.
In addition, since 31 October 2022 we have been piloting early legal advice on certain housing, debt and welfare benefits matters in Manchester and Middlesbrough to test the impact of early legal advice on resolving an individual’s problem more quickly. The pilot ended on 31 March 2023 and a final evaluation report is expected in July 2023.
Legal aid remains available for disrepair cases when there is a serious threat of illness or injury. Anyone in this position should contact the Civil Legal Advice helpline.
Whilst the MoJ continually monitors the latest data on possession proceedings, we are unable to assess the impact of LASPO on any trends in possession proceedings, evictions, homelessness levels and numbers of successful application for local Government homelessness assistance. This is because we cannot isolate any LASPO impact from changes over the same period.
Information concerning housing legal aid providers can be found here:
Legal aid statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of pay for people working in legal aid; and if he will make an estimate of the number of Legal Aid providers that have accepted new cases since the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012) came into force.
Answered by Mike Freer
In March 2022, the Ministry of Justice consulted on several changes to the civil and criminal legal aid means tests to ensure that legal aid remains accessible to all who need it. When implemented, the changes will increase the number of people eligible for civil legal aid in England and Wales by an additional 2.5 million.
At the Crown Court, the Government has also proposed removing the current £37,500 disposable income threshold; if implemented, this would mean that all defendants at the Crown Court would be eligible for legal aid and so would not have to pay privately, though a proportion may be required to pay a monthly income contribution towards their legal costs.
Whilst the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) introduced changes to the scope of legal aid, legal aid services continued to be delivered following LASPO. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes statistics regarding new cases completed and started in each period by legal aid scheme with additional breakdowns by region and by Controlled and Licensed Work at tables 9.1-5.
The LAA frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision of legal aid, in all categories of law, throughout England and Wales. The LAA moves quickly, where issues arise, to secure additional provision and to ensure demand for legal aid services, which may vary across different categories of law and across different geographic regions, is met. Legal advice on a range of civil matters including housing, debt, discrimination, and education is available, wherever people are, through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.
The Ministry of Justice continues to consider the long-term sustainability of the criminal and civil legal aid market. Following publication of our full response to the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR) on 30 November 2022, we have boosted the system with immediate investment to address the most urgent concerns, including uplifts of 15% to most legal aid fee schemes.
Our plans will put criminal legal aid on a sustainable footing and ensure there is a sustainable supply of practitioners. Criminal legal aid spend is expected to increase to £1.2 billion per year, which is the highest level since 2010.
We have also recently launched a review of civil legal aid to identify evidence-based options which will help inform our longer-term strategy for improving the sustainability and effectiveness of the civil legal aid system.
Concerning legal aid for housing matters, the 2019 Post Implementation Review of Part 1 of LASPO found that individuals experiencing social welfare problems, especially related to housing matters, struggle to resolve their problems early, often leading to a clustering of problems. This in turn requires costly intervention at the courts and increases pressure on social services. In response, the MoJ is amending LASPO to expand the scope of legal aid for people facing the loss of their home to include early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits from 1 August 2023 through the creation of the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).
It is hoped that the HLPAS will enable individuals to resolve matters before court proceedings take place, reducing homelessness and pressure on the courts. HLPAS will also support housing legal aid providers, providing payment for the early legal advice and improving renumeration rates for delivering the court duty service. Up to £10m in annual funding has been made available for HLPAS.
In addition, since 31 October 2022 we have been piloting early legal advice on certain housing, debt and welfare benefits matters in Manchester and Middlesbrough to test the impact of early legal advice on resolving an individual’s problem more quickly. The pilot ended on 31 March 2023 and a final evaluation report is expected in July 2023.
Legal aid remains available for disrepair cases when there is a serious threat of illness or injury. Anyone in this position should contact the Civil Legal Advice helpline.
Whilst the MoJ continually monitors the latest data on possession proceedings, we are unable to assess the impact of LASPO on any trends in possession proceedings, evictions, homelessness levels and numbers of successful application for local Government homelessness assistance. This is because we cannot isolate any LASPO impact from changes over the same period.
Information concerning housing legal aid providers can be found here:
Legal aid statistics quarterly: October to December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)