Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to monitor and evaluate the adequacy of Legal Aid funding awarded under the Schedule 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Schedule 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) describes the civil services in scope of legal aid under s.9 LASPO.

In January 2023, the Ministry of Justice launched a comprehensive Review of Civil Legal Aid (RoCLA), to identify issues facing the system and improve its sustainability. The Review examined the civil legal aid system in its entirety, including how services are procured, how well the current system works for users and providers, and how civil legal aid impacts the wider justice system. The Review has now concluded, and all reports are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-legal-aid-review.

The evidence from RoCLA indicated that the housing and immigration sectors face particularly acute challenges with service provision and high demand. In response, we are increasing fees for all housing and debt, and immigration and asylum legal aid work. This represents a significant investment – the first major increase in fees since 1996. Uplifts to fees for controlled immigration and housing work - generally early advice and some legal representation - came into effect on 22 December 2025, injecting an additional £18 million into the civil legal aid sector each year.

We will monitor and evaluate the impact of this fee increase through engagement with the sector and through provider numbers. We are in regular dialogue with representative bodies and our provider base more broadly about the health of the market, and several new research and evidence projects are underway that aim to improve our understanding about market capacity and demand.

RoCLA identified a range of issues – beyond fees – that make a difference to the profession. We are looking at other potential changes to support providers, for example contractual requirements that providers say are burdensome.