Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the scope of legal aid on covering legal representation for individuals and families impacted by domestic abuse in relation to family law cases, including arrangements for children and finances.

We want to support victims of domestic abuse, for whom legal proceedings can be both traumatic and costly. The scope of legal aid is set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Subject to eligibility criteria and evidence requirements, legal aid is available to domestic abuse victims in private family matters, including child custody cases.

We recently laid draft secondary legislation to broaden the evidence requirements for domestic abuse victims applying for legal aid. From 1 March 2023, a letter/report following a telephone or video conference with a GP will now be accepted.

Under our plans, domestic abuse victims applying for a protective order or other proceedings would benefit from the more generous means test for civil legal aid. And any disputed assets – including property – will not be included in a means assessment. This is much fairer for domestic abuse victims who are contesting a property and who cannot use their equity in that property to fund the legal proceedings.