Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of potential savings to the public purse arising from the proposed residence test for legal aid.

It is right that individuals should have a strong connection with the UK to benefit from taxpayer funded legal aid. The residence test proposed during the previous Parliament is a fair and appropriate way to demonstrate that connection.

The Government does not currently record the residence status of civil legal aid clients so cannot accurately estimate the annual savings that may be achieved by introducing a civil legal aid residence test. It is likely there will be a reduction in legal aid volumes and expenditure from imposing residence restrictions on civil legal aid, resulting in savings to the legal aid fund.