Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating the level of remuneration for expert witnesses in family cases.

Between January 2023 and March 2025, the Ministry of Justice undertook a comprehensive review of civil legal aid. This included family legal aid. The evidence from the review indicated that the housing and debt, and immigration and asylum sectors face particularly acute challenges with service provision and high demand.

Following a consultation, we recently announced uplifts to housing and debt, and immigration and asylum legal aid fees, which will inject £20 million into the sector each year once fully implemented.

The Government keeps legal aid policy, including family legal aid and remuneration for expert witnesses, under review.