Speeches by Alexander.

“I have asked that question. I asked it back in July. I also requested a weekly progress update as soon as I got into the role, because I recognised that this was going to be a massive priority. I am confident that the resource that we have dedicated to the casework function in the Ministry of Justice is enough at the m…”

“Thank you, Chair, for inviting me. My responsibility in the Ministry of Justice relates to writing to individuals who need to be informed that their convictions have been quashed by the legislation. Minister Thomas in the Department for Business and Trade is responsible for the running of the various compensation schem…”

“That is how I would characterise it, yes.”

“On the police national computer, the date of the offence or the offence type might not have matched the court record. That was why we chose to request all the records from the courts.”

“That is completely right. We have essentially been piecing together the bits of a jigsaw puzzle.”

“It did not. If you think back to the legislation that was passed, there were five conditions that had to be met in order for a conviction to be deemed in scope. They related to the date of the offence; the type of offence; the status of the individual as either employed by the Post Office or carrying on business in rel…”

“We had been provided with information by the Post Office and by the Crown Prosecution Service. That equated to 936 individuals. Since that time, we have had a further 40 individuals self-identify, believing that they are in scope of the Act. On the information that the Post Office and the CPS provided to us, there were…”

“It might help if I describe what the process has been to identify these individuals. So far, we have assessed 87% of the individual cases of which we are aware—”

“We did encounter some difficulties in July, in terms of discrepancies between the various datasets that we were using to identify individuals who had convictions that were in scope of the Act.”

“It is possible that a further individual could come forward and say to us that they believe that they are in scope of the Act. We are confident that we are aware of the vast majority of people who have convictions that are in scope of the Act, but it is not impossible that somebody else could come forward who we are un…”

“I cannot at the moment. It is not inconceivable that somebody could come forward still, but I am confident that we are aware of the vast majority of people who have convictions that are in scope of the Act. As I said, we have so far assessed 87% of those cases.”

“The figure that I have is that 949 individual cases have been or are being considered. I can ask Ed to comment in detail on how we arrived at that figure.”

“Correct. There are 145 individuals to whom we have written to ask for more information. We have also assessed 155 individuals in England and Wales and confirmed that they have no convictions that fall within the scope of the Act. I can break that 155 down if you are interested.”

“The number that I have for England and Wales is 522.”

“It is my understanding that we will have carried out all the assessments by early January on all the cases that we are aware of. There is a cohort of individuals whose convictions fall outside the scope of the Act. I can break that down further for you.”

“As my hon. Friend will know, we are doing everything we can to bear down on the Crown court caseload, including extending magistrates’ sentencing powers. The Budget also confirmed 106,500 sitting days for this year.”

“We will publish our response to the “Crime Lower” consultation in a matter of weeks. I anticipate being able to publish the CLAAB report at that stage, and some of the documents relating to the review of civil legal aid before the end of this year.”

“Some cases are eligible for legal aid under exceptional case funding. If my hon. Friend writes to me with the details of the case, I will come back to him with any advice that I can offer.”

“I understand why the hon. Lady raises that issue, but transcripts must be 100% accurate. They are legal documents, so “good enough” simply does not cut it. I will review what technology is available, and I am happy to keep her updated.”

“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 upholds the rule of law. We are looking carefully at the evidence gathered as part of the review of civil legal aid, which covered issues such as demand, fee levels an…”