Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits providing grants to legal aid providers to help increase the accessibility of legal aid.

Legal aid is a vital part of the justice system. It underpins our plans to build a justice system that works for victims, supports access to justice, and ultimately upholds the rule of law.

The Government is committed to ensuring an effective and sustainable legal aid system and is keen to work closely with practitioners and their representative bodies on this. We are carefully considering options for reform following evidence gathered on the health of the system, including, for example, information gathered as part of the Review of Civil Legal Aid.

To support housing legal aid work, we are providing £1.5 million in grant funding for the recruitment of trainee housing solicitors until November 2025.

We also recognise the importance of the broader legal support system, beyond legal aid, in helping people to access justice. We are providing over £10 million of grant funding, up to March 2025, to identify what works best in the delivery and provision of legal support for people with social welfare legal problems. This includes the ‘Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support’ grant, which supports the work of 59 organisations to sustain and improve access to early legal support and support at court.

It also includes the ‘Online Support and Advice’ Grant, which ensures the provision of online support across a range of civil, family and tribunal problems.