Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the speech by the Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties of 24 September 2014 at the Family Mediation Association Annual Conference 2014, whether his Department plans to seek the views of children, young people and expert non-governmental organisaitons in its review of children's access to legal aid.

Following the reforms to civil legal aid, funding remains available in around 95% of cases where a child or young person is the applicant. This includes legal aid for all public law children cases, and where a child is a party in private family law cases.

The Government has made clear that it will undertake a post-implementation review of the legal aid provisions within the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) within 3-5 years of implementation. Although the scope of this review has not been finalised, it is expected that it will consider evidence from a wide range of sources.

In the mean time, the Government continues at all times to review the operation of the legal aid system. Ministers have considered, and will continue to consider, all representations and evidence about the impact of LASPO on young people.