Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Access to Justice

Tuesday 9 June 2020 · 1 question

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Legal aid is crucial in a fair society, and steps have been taken to ensure more than 400 million is available within the system for practitioners.
  • The Government has taken the needs of legal aid providers seriously and aims to help them weather the financial storm caused by the pandemic.
  • Discussions between the Ministry and the Treasury regarding legal aid providers continue, but specific details of these meetings have not been provided.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Karen Buck Lab Bolton South East
Justice & Courts Benefits & Welfare
Context

Legal aid providers face financial pressures due to the pandemic.

Question

The Law Society has highlighted that many legal aid providers are at risk of imminent collapse. While there have been positive statements from the Government, specific measures remain unclear. Will the Minister provide details on discussions held with the Treasury and specify when these meetings took place?

Answer from Alex Chalk (Minister of State for Justice)

Legal aid is crucial in a fair society, and we take seriously the needs of legal aid providers. Steps have been taken to ensure that more than £400 million available within the system can be easily accessed by practitioners to help them weather the storm. Additionally, other schemes such as the furlough scheme and bounce-back loans are also applicable to legal aid practitioners.

Answered
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