Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many criminal legal aid firms have been added to the Legal Aid Agency’s list of providers willing to accept instructions for advocacy services at different locations since 11 April 2022; and what data his Department holds on number of trials in the Crown Court that have been adjourned or postponed due to the unavailability of a defence advocate.

At the point the Crown Court Representation Helpline was launched on 20 April, there were 19 contacts registered. The helpline does not require higher court advocates to be registered individually. Therefore, some of the registered contacts may have multiple higher court advocates available to provide advocacy services in the Crown Court. The number of registered contacts is subject to fluctuation.

The Crown Court Representation Helpline is in place to make the process of identifying higher court advocates easier for providers who may be impacted by barristers declining to accept returns in defence cases as part of national Criminal Bar Association disruptive action. Providers are not limited to instructing higher court advocates registered with the helpline. The Public Defender Service may also be able to provide advocacy support where cases have been impacted by the no returns action.

The Department publishes data on volumes and the reasons why trials do not go ahead as part of the Criminal court statistics quarterly. The latest statistics cover the period October to December 2021. In line with the timetable for the publication of official statistics into the public domain we are unable to provide data for more recent months at this time.