Speeches by Sackman.

“As the House will be aware, the Legal Aid Agency suffered a criminal cyber-attack across its systems. It has worked tirelessly to ensure that those who rely on legal aid have not seen that legal aid stop and that providers are not left out of pocket. In short, it has kept the show on the road with a series of emergency…”

“I pay tribute to the legal aid providers across the country who have kept going through this difficult time and who do vital work in the sector. As part of the package of contingency business measures, we have delegated more decision making to providers and we have committed to backdating criminal legal aid application…”

“The killings of Jack and Paul were horrendous crimes and I would like to pay tribute to my hon. Friend and to her constituent, Claire, for their tireless campaigning on these issues. I am sure that she would agree that the guiding principle for any reform must be children’s welfare. That is why we have requested a revi…”

“I am very sorry to hear about the case of the hon. Member’s constituent. We need to put this into some context. As of March 2024, over 8 million lasting powers of attorney were registered in England and Wales. They are a really useful instrument. Although concerns about misuse do exist, the sort of abuse that the hon. …”

“My hon. Friend is right that we are seeing an increase in the number of victims pulling out of the process because they no longer have confidence in it because it is taking so long. We have funded an additional 4,000 sitting days this year and have asked Sir Brian Leveson to recommend once-in-a-generation reform precis…”

“The hon. Member will know that a staggering 60% of cases that go through our family courts involve some form of domestic abuse or allegation thereof. That is why consideration of the operation of the presumption of contact and wider consideration of domestic abuse allegations in our family courts are so important. It i…”

“I welcome my hon. Friend’s question and I am grateful to him for raising the pathfinder court. These pilots are proving incredibly successful. They front-load a lot of the evidence gathering, they put the safety of children and family arrangements right at their heart, and they are proving a really successful model, wh…”

“The hon. Lady is absolutely right that we need to ensure access to legal aid for those who live in rural areas. The Legal Aid Agency was satisfied that legal aid services across all categories are adequate in her constituency of Harpenden and Berkhamsted. Digital technology is transforming access to justice through rem…”

“My name is Sarah Sackman. I am the Member of Parliament for Finchley and Golders Green, and I am the Minister for Courts and Legal Services in the Ministry of Justice.”

“That sounds reasonable and sensible. I suspect that the practice of the CPS is to apply for expedition, but guidance on that would certainly not hurt.”

“I think that is a very fair point. Of course, there would also have to be no discrimination between different candidates because, once you are in an election, the fact that you are the incumbent falls away. I absolutely take that point.”

“That is very true.”

“To add briefly to what Lucy said, I think that in practice our courts, in completely different circumstances, are well used to responding rapidly when that is germane to the matter at hand, such as seeking an urgent injunction out of court hours. You referred to the response to the Southport riots. I think that in thos…”

“We hear concerns from lots of different angles about threats to MPs coming from members of the public, with those who participate or seek to be candidates themselves being the source of the abuse and intimidation. We have to make sure that our police, the CPS and judges applying the law are equipped with the right suit…”

“I would not put in question for one minute the court’s understanding of both criminal and election law. While these cases are unusual, in my experience, when election offences, or ordinary criminal offences that pertain to MPs and candidates, come before the courts, they tend to be, under criminal practice directions, …”

“All I would add, and I suspect colleagues will agree with me, and maybe Lucy too, given that we are both new MPs, is that before I got into this place, and even since I have been elected, people would come up to me—friends, families and complete strangers sometimes—and they would say, “Gosh, you must be mad to put your…”

“If I may just chime in on this discussion about centralisation, the attractions of centralisation are the ones that you have outlined. You build expertise, and you have a single focal point that MPs around the country can call into. These are unusual cases. It is about good resource management. I want to pick up on one…”

“Hear, hear!”

“Exactly. That is precisely the attraction. We need to be aware of the temptation of simply expanding and creating highly specific offences, but in the sentencing space, recognising the independence of the Sentencing Council, that approach and direction of travel is something that we should explore.”

“I think that is a perfectly credible argument, precisely in the way that you have put it. Again, I think it warrants careful thought. It is not Government policy as of today.”