Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the agreement recently reached with the Criminal Bar on the future role of the Public Defender Service.
Arrangements have been put in place, under which self-employed barristers have been instructed to represent defendants in a number of Very High Cost Cases (VHCCs). Given that normal working relationships have been restored, the Government has confirmed that there is no need to expand the PDS further.