Written questions by Mierlo.

What steps he is taking to improve access to legal aid in short notice cases.

We recognise that in certain circumstances individuals may need to access legal aid services urgently and the Government provides specific support to facilitate this.In criminal legal aid, those who are to be interviewed under caution by the police are entitled to advice and assistance from a solicitor, which is arranged through the Defence Solicitor Call Centre on a 24/7 basis. Court duty solicitors are available to provide immediate advice to individuals on a first appearance in the magistrates’ court, except for certain minor offences such as summary motoring offences.We have committed up to £92 million per year additional investment for criminal legal aid solicitors. As part of that, we are harmonising the fixed fee for all police station schemes at £320 excluding VAT. This is above the current highest fee paid, meaning all police station attendance fee schemes will see an uplift. In addition, we are uplifting magistrates’ court fees by 10%. This significant investment will support duty solicitors who work on short notice cases, and the sustainability of the profession.In civil legal aid, providers can apply to the Legal Aid Agency for Emergency Legal Representation to cover emergency legal advice if individuals need urgent representation in court.In public family proceedings, legal aid is available means-free for parents and those with parental responsibility in most public family law special Children Act 1989 cases, including for interim care orders and emergency protection orders. A light-touch merits test is applied, so that only the need for representation is considered.An eligibility waiver is available for victims of domestic abuse applying for urgent protection. This means they can receive legal aid even if they would not otherwise pass the means test, though they may then have to pay a financial contribution towards their legal costs.For people facing the loss of their home, in-court advice and representation is available on the day of the possession hearing via the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service.Individuals held in Immigration Removal Centres and immigration detainees held in prisons are provided with a 30-minute triage appointment through the Detained Duy Advice Scheme. This initial appointment supports detained individuals to make contact with a legal provider that may provide further advice (subject to merits and eligibility).We are uplifting legal aid fees for immigration and housing work, injecting an additional £20 million per year, which will support swift access to legal aid in these areas, including for short notice cases.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce the time taken for and costs associated with Court of Protection applications for care decisions and (b) ensure families have access to clear, publicly available guidance on those processes.

HMCTS is working to increase overall system capacity to decrease processing times across all types of applications. Measures taken include a targeted action plan to allocate additional administrative resources in response to higher demand, as well as training and upskilling new staff. Additional judicial sitting days have been added to support performance improvement. HMCTS is also working on improvements to the new case management system, to help reduce overall end-to-end processing times.Guidance on the court process is publicly available on GOV.UK. In addition, online application forms which assist users with ‘in application’ guidance and prompts are also available for some types of applications.

What assessment he has made of the contribution of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives fellows to improving equality, diversity and social mobility in the legal profession; and what steps he taking to further these aims.

The Ministry of Justice recognises the contribution of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) and its Fellows in improving equality, diversity and social mobility in the legal profession. I reflected this when I delivered a welcome address at the CILEX annual conference this month in Birmingham, noting that CILEX is a valuable engine of social mobility in the profession. Data showing the diversity of CILEX members is published by CILEX Regulation (CRL) in its biennial Diversity Data Survey. The most recent published survey is available here: https://cilexregulation.org.uk/diversity-data/. The legal profession in England and Wales, together with its regulators, operates independently of Government. Under the Legal Services Act (LSA) 2007, the responsibility for regulating the sector sits with approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). CRL is the independent regulatory body of CILEX. Encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession is one of nine regulatory objectives under the LSA 2007, which the LSB, approved regulators, and the Office for Legal Complaints, have a duty to promote. Recent action by CRL includes publishing its first Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy, issuing its next biennial Diversity Data Survey, expanding diversity reporting in enforcement, and revising qualifying employment and experience requirements to remove barriers. CRL is refreshing its EDI Strategy this year. Steps taken by CILEX include establishing the CILEX Foundation in 2021 to remove financial and social mobility barriers and launching the CILEX Judicial Academy in 2024 to help increase diversity within the judiciary by supporting lawyers – including CILEX professionals – aspiring to judicial careers. While respecting independence, the Ministry of Justice maintains regular dialogue with the legal services representative bodies and regulators on a range of issues including improving equality, diversity, and social mobility in the profession.

What discussions he has had with Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Judges on the introduction of independent adjudicators to hear asylum appeals.

It is standard practice not to comment on the specifics of discussions between ministers and the judiciary.As would be expected, the Lord Chancellor has regular meetings with the Lady Chief Justice and other senior judges.In line with constitutional conventions, discussions with the judiciary do not cover the merits of policy proposals and are limited to technical matters relating to the operation of the courts and the wider administration of justice.

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the service provided by the (a) probate service and (b) probate service contractors.

Official statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that despite continued high levels of receipts, the effectiveness of the service being provided continues to improve. Average waiting times are reducing and was 6 weeks, from receipt of the documentation needed across all types of grants, for grants issued during October to December 2024, down from 13 weeks for the same period in 2023 and the open caseload has reduced to 39,142 as at the end of December 2024, down from 77,904 at the end of 2023.HMCTS administers the probate service with civil servants. When a third party provides a service, such as document scanning, HMCTS regularly meets with them to review performance against Service Level Agreements and has no concerns.Average waiting times and open caseload for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via the Family Court Statistics: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Court of Protection in (a) issuing granted orders and (b) training for staff.

Court orders in the Court of Protection are prepared and approved by the Judiciary before being sealed and sent to the parties by HM Courts & Tribunals Service. Regular management checks are conducted to review court processes, with additional training provided as necessary. Furthermore, the implementation of a new case management system in July 2024 provided extra training for all administrative teams concerning order production.

When she plans to publish the independent review of her Department’s language services.

We have been considering the findings of the independent review to help inform the development of new tender specifications. This is a complex process and covers a wide range of agencies within the Ministry of Justice. Once all internal governance has bee...

What steps she is taking to ensure the adequacy of services provided by interpreters to her Department.

The Ministry of Justice operates a robust performance and quality regime for these services. Interpreter fulfilment of bookings is the service provided by suppliers under contract, and their performance is managed through contract management. The quality ...

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of replacing external (a) translation and (b) interpretation services provided to her Department with services provided by departmental staff.

The Ministry of Justice considered the potential for bringing the service fully or partially in-house when assessing its options. The outcome of the assessment indicated an outsourced model continued to be the best value for taxpayers’ money, taking accou...

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the implementation of restorative justice in the criminal justice system.

This Government supports the use of restorative justice, which is why, under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’), all adult victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it. We also provide Poli...

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling (a) non-religious belief organisations and (b) Humanists to conduct legally binding weddings as religious organisations.

We are aware that non-religious belief organisations, such as humanists, have long been campaigning to conduct legally binding weddings. Given marriage is such a valued part of our society, I hope you will understand that as a new Government we will need ...

If she will meet the Hon. Member for Henley and Thame to discuss an urgent constituency matter.

The Ministry of Justice Ministerial team conducts engagement with Members on their constituency matters on a routine basis and I would encourage the Member to contact the relevant Minister through the usual channels.