Speeches by Vaughan.

“Will you make that entire model transparently public so that Sir Ashley can put his sitting days into it, which he says are irrelevant but would actually show what the outputs would be?”

“Is the ability of juries to deal with the evidence being presented to them part of the cause of the increased timeframes? Is that part of your case?”

“I am just trying to understand the extent to which it is part of your case—whether you need to or not is not my question. It is about whether you do say that it is, and it sounds like you are saying that it does to an extent. Is that your position?”

“Does the hon. Member agree that economic regeneration through the arts and culture is a powerful way of showing the link between the past and the future in our national story? If so, would she agree that Folkestone is a prime example of that? Having been a port from which our troops went to the frontline in world war o…”

“When the Justice Secretary gave evidence to the Justice Committee in December, he said that the evidence underpinning the 20% time saving that comes from Sir Brian’s report would be released. If that makes the proposition good—I understand that the hon. Gentleman disputes that—would he and his party still oppose even t…”

“Do you think that these increases will go anywhere near to preventing this attrition that we see in the system, where solicitors are spending all the time, as you referred to earlier, doing admin, essentially, that they are not paid for, but they have to do as part of a contract? Are we going to see this trend continue…”

“In relation to areas that are not housing and immigration but education, welfare benefits and community care, which have not had the increase, how would you assess the position there as to their sustainability and whether people are going to stick in those sectors if they are not getting paid properly?”

“Thank you.”

“That is useful. I want to ask also about housing and immigration. Now we have had recent increases, the first since 1996.”

“Similarly, to what extent—this is to any of you—will those increases address those historical funding difficulties?”

“Thank you. I want to ask about remuneration, with Ms Brimelow first. Barristers in criminal legal aid have had a 15% increase and solicitors have had a 24% increase since the criminal legal aid review. To what extent is that enough? Is it going to stabilise the position or not?”

“Thank you. Chair, if I may, I have one last question on unmet need, etc., before I move on to legal aid remuneration. Within this general duty to make arrangements under section 1 of LASPO, I have heard it suggested that the Secretary of State could have the power to make a grant to create a legal advice centre; say, t…”

“Are there any other considerations here that we need to bear in mind when we think about how to advocate for more money? Ultimately, we can say that by spending on legal aid you save money elsewhere. I heard what was said, and I have seen some of the work that has been done to say that if you spend £1 you get £3 back. …”

“Thank you, Chair. Thanks for all your answers so far. I want to ask about legal advice deserts. I know, Richard, that you mentioned that already. We have had a very large number of legal aid providers disappear, and we have areas of the country where, as you said, there is virtually nothing around. In Kent, we have zer…”

“There is a power in section 2(2)(c) of LASPO to make arrangements to secure legal aid in areas where it is not being met. I was going to ask about remuneration for legally aided work.”

“Richard or Kirsty, in your experience, when you have people who are in litigation representing themselves, what effect does that have on the legal process and the costs that have to be spent on the court time, the judge, etc.? What additional pressures or extra costs does it create in other places when you have somebod…”

“Hello. I am Tony Vaughan. I am a barrister and before I became a Member of Parliament I practised a lot in civil legal aid. I am an associate tenant at Doughty Street Chambers. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. It is also relevant that I used to be a legal aid funding adjudic…”

“Currently, where does that money go? Into the Home Office’s coffers?”

“It seems to me that everyone agrees about the importance of buses generally and to their local communities. I was glad to hear from the Minister about the addition of a rurality element to how bus funding is allocated. In areas such as mine, in Folkestone and Hythe, route after route has been cut, because we are told t…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. That is exactly why the Government introduced the Bus Services Act: to allow local authorities to be held to account for the decisions they make about how to fund bus services. I completely agree that bus services are a fundamental public good and a public service. In my con…”