Speeches by Sackman.

“I am absolutely passionate about legal support. I started my career at the free legal advice centre in Toynbee Hall, so I am in no doubt about the value that legal support provides in terms of helping people access justice, understand their rights and be able to advocate for themselves or find a lawyer. What pleases me…”

“Of course we have a responsibility where we make a commitment in statute to this that that commitment is realised. It is why the implementation of the commitment around the Hillsborough law for non-means-tested legal aid for bereaved families at inquest is a real focus for the Department. Part of that implementation in…”

“As we have London Tech Week and so many of the stories, there is a huge amount going on in public discourse around the ethics and the approach to AI. That is no different in public services from how it is on social media and in other spheres. We cannot divorce ourselves from that huge responsibility. When I meet with t…”

“I am not aware of claims from victims. I am aware that there have been calls for compensation. In individual cases where there were specific reasons for additional costs, claims can be made under the Legal Aid Agency’s costs guidance, but there is no compensation scheme. That is for a couple of reasons. One is that, as…”

“There has been a huge sense of urgency in two regards. First, there is keeping the show on the road at the Legal Aid Agency, even when we had to take our systems offline and ensure that no one who needed legal aid was denied it during that period. That took a huge amount of work and urgency. I saw real effort on the pa…”

“There is no compensation.”

“I do. I cannot say with absolute certainty that that work will be complete within the spending review period, but I think that that represents a significant investment capable of achieving that goal, yes.”

“That is right.”

“In general terms, I am attracted to a national strategy, and in my wildest dreams I am attracted to the idea of a national legal service. We have this mixture of provision, don’t we, that we have been discussing today of legal aid, private providers, charitable providers and state funding? Having a coherent joint syste…”

“I will bring in Ms Ziaulla in a moment. I take the point around digital exclusion, which is a separate issue. In this regard, a common universal badging of services might have merit. It is not within our current plans, but I said to you that it is an aspiration. This is where the harnessing of technology and remote acc…”

“I will answer that in two ways. First, we need more information. The report published on 5 June tells us that the way we need to approach this will take a bit of sophistication for us to get a real handle on it, so it is not job done; there is more work to do. The second part of my answer is not to sit on my hands and …”

“Access to justice is the right that makes all other rights real. You are right to say that that constitutional right to access the courts is fundamental in a democratic society. I also believe that it is fundamental to social and economic justice. When one considers that it was almost 80 years ago that, out of the ashe…”

“One can get into the details of a particular model. We have to decide first whether the principle is right. We have to get the design right. There may be advantages to having an independent operator. There may be advantages to do with administrative burden and cost, and then, where money is redirected to access to just…”

“Sure. I will try to give a quick answer.”

“The choices made by previous Governments in LASPO in relation to eligibility have, without doubt, had the effect of residualising access to legal aid. Legal aid was always, in its conception, designed to ensure that those without the ability to pay to access the court could do so. I well appreciate that when the scheme…”

“I reject that.”

“For 2026, we put in investment of £61 million, which represents over a 100% increase on the committed amount in 2023-24. Over the spending review period, there has been an allocation of £200 million in additional funding. Some of that will have already been directed at stabilising the system and standing up the securit…”

“Of course I have to be open to that. That is not the same as saying we are doing a wholesale review of the legislative framework, but of course we can and we must be open to that.”

“As things stand, 31% of those who appear in the magistrates court are publicly funded and 97% of those who apply for legal aid receive it. People may be litigants in person for a host of reasons. Some of that may be to do with choice. It may be that they have substantial means and simply choose—”

“I agree with the sentiment behind the new clause to ensure that we are monitoring efficiency, effectiveness and performance across our criminal courts system. However, as the shadow Justice Minister just said, the best mechanisms for holding the system to account in terms of performance and judicial accountability meri…”