Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department's budget of the increased number of litigants in person as a result of the means test threshold not being uprated in line with inflation in (a) civil legal aid since 2008 and (b) criminal legal aid since 2009.

It is not possible to estimate the cost to the Ministry of Justice of any increase in the number of litigants in person as a direct result of not uprating the legal aid means test thresholds since 2008/2009.

The Legal Support Action Plan, published in February 2019, confirmed that the Ministry of Justice will undertake a legal aid means test review which will study the thresholds for legal aid entitlement as well as the effectiveness with which the means testing arrangements appropriately protect access to justice, particularly for the vulnerable. Within this review, we will evaluate a wide range of evidence from both within and outside of government, liaising with experts from across the field to explore any improvements to the system.

The Ministry of Justice has also announced that it is doubling its funding for the Litigants in Person Support Strategy to £3 million per year for the next two years, to ensure that those representing themselves in court can access the support they need.