A number of constituents have recently contacted me
and asked me to attend an upcoming debate in Parliament on “The Future of Legal
Aid” on Thursday 1 November.
I fully understand that there are issues related
the implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act
(LASPO) and the Government has rightly conducted a post-implementation review
which is due to be published at the end of this year.
Our legal aid system is an important tenet of our
justice system, accounting for more than one fifth of the Ministry of Justice’s
budget last year. I want to see our legal aid budget deliver the best value for
money for taxpayers by ensuring that legal aid continues to be available for
the highest priority cases while discouraging unnecessary and adversarial litigation.
Those who rely on legal aid to deal with urgent matters, where life or liberty
is at stake, must be able to continue to do so.
The Government have increased the scope of legal
aid in a number of areas, such as domestic violence and prison related cases.
Significant investment has also been made to help make the courts more
accessible. For instance, those making welfare claims can do so online, get
updates about those claims online and deal with queries and issues before a
hearing by liaising with the judge online.
More needs to be done and I will be following the
progress of the post-implementation review closely. I was sadly unable to
attend the debate, but I will be seeking to raise the points my constituents
raised to the Secretary of State for Justice when I next see him.
