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1656563

registered interest
date	01/09/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing the legal aid means test for (a) survivors and (b) victims of domestic abuse in private family law proceedings.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham East
tabling member printed	Janet Daby
uin	196380
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2023 answer text <p>We have expanded the scope of family legal aid, delivering on our commitments to support victims of domestic abuse and special guardians to access legal aid. This means an increase in funding of £13m per year.</p><p> </p><p>We have also put in place an eligibility waiver for victims of domestic abuse applying for an injunction or other protective order, which means they can receive legal aid even if they would not otherwise pass the means test, though they may have to pay a financial contribution towards their legal costs.</p><p>We will exclude assets such as the family home from the means test where they are the subject matter of the dispute or where coercive behaviour has denied applicants use of their shared marital assets, making it easier for domestic abuse victims to access legal aid.</p><p> </p><p>Domestic abuse victims in receipt of Universal Credit who are seeking a protective order will receive free legal aid for themselves and their children. These orders are uniquely linked to the safety of domestic abuse victims and their families. This means domestic abuse victims who are in receipt of Universal Credit will continue to have access to urgent injunctions regardless of their financial situation.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 11/09/2023 14:26:12 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4698 label Biography information for Janet Daby

1587897

registered interest
date	21/02/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of domestic abuse survivors who have (a) received legal aid and (b) not received legal aid in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Steve Reed
uin	149490
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2023 answer text <p>It is not a requirement for an individual to disclose if they have been a victim of domestic abuse when applying for legal aid unless they are applying for legal aid in connection with a protective order or private family law cases under the domestic violence gateway. Consequently, it is not possible to determine the number of domestic abuse survivors who have received or been refused legal aid or the total legal aid expenditure for domestic abuse survivors across the whole of the legal aid scheme in each of the last five years.</p><p>The Government is committed to supporting victims of domestic abuse, for whom legal proceedings can be both traumatic and costly. Legal aid is and remains available for the purpose of obtaining urgent protection, such as non-molestation orders, without any evidence requirements. Under current legal aid legislation, the Director of Legal Aid Casework has a discretion in these cases to waive the financial eligibility limits for both income and capital where she considers it equitable to do so. All applicants seeking protection from domestic abuse may access legal aid irrespective of their financial circumstances.</p><p>We recently laid draft secondary legislation to broaden the evidence requirements for domestic abuse victims applying for legal aid. From 1 March 2023, a letter/report following a telephone or video conference with a GP will now be accepted.</p><p>Additionally, the proposals put forward in the Means Test Review consultation will make it easier for domestic abuse victims to access legal aid, by making the means test more generous and by excluding disputed assets from the means test where they are the subject of the case. These changes will significantly widen access to legal aid, and we estimate that 2 million more people will have access to legal aid in civil cases, including for victims of domestic abuse.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 149492 question first answered 24/02/2023 09:01:03 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1587901

registered interest
date	21/02/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of legal aid for domestic abuse survivors.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Steve Reed
uin	149492
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2023 answer text <p>It is not a requirement for an individual to disclose if they have been a victim of domestic abuse when applying for legal aid unless they are applying for legal aid in connection with a protective order or private family law cases under the domestic violence gateway. Consequently, it is not possible to determine the number of domestic abuse survivors who have received or been refused legal aid or the total legal aid expenditure for domestic abuse survivors across the whole of the legal aid scheme in each of the last five years.</p><p>The Government is committed to supporting victims of domestic abuse, for whom legal proceedings can be both traumatic and costly. Legal aid is and remains available for the purpose of obtaining urgent protection, such as non-molestation orders, without any evidence requirements. Under current legal aid legislation, the Director of Legal Aid Casework has a discretion in these cases to waive the financial eligibility limits for both income and capital where she considers it equitable to do so. All applicants seeking protection from domestic abuse may access legal aid irrespective of their financial circumstances.</p><p>We recently laid draft secondary legislation to broaden the evidence requirements for domestic abuse victims applying for legal aid. From 1 March 2023, a letter/report following a telephone or video conference with a GP will now be accepted.</p><p>Additionally, the proposals put forward in the Means Test Review consultation will make it easier for domestic abuse victims to access legal aid, by making the means test more generous and by excluding disputed assets from the means test where they are the subject of the case. These changes will significantly widen access to legal aid, and we estimate that 2 million more people will have access to legal aid in civil cases, including for victims of domestic abuse.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer grouped question UIN 149490 question first answered 24/02/2023 09:01:03 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1584514

registered interest
date	06/02/2023
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the scope of legal aid on covering legal representation for individuals and families impacted by domestic abuse in relation to family law cases, including arrangements for children and finances.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	140341
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2023 answer text <p>We want to support victims of domestic abuse, for whom legal proceedings can be both traumatic and costly. The scope of legal aid is set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Subject to eligibility criteria and evidence requirements, legal aid is available to domestic abuse victims in private family matters, including child custody cases.</p><p>We recently laid draft secondary legislation to broaden the evidence requirements for domestic abuse victims applying for legal aid. From 1 March 2023, a letter/report following a telephone or video conference with a GP will now be accepted.</p><p>Under our plans, domestic abuse victims applying for a protective order or other proceedings would benefit from the more generous means test for civil legal aid. And any disputed assets – including property – will not be included in a means assessment. This is much fairer for domestic abuse victims who are contesting a property and who cannot use their equity in that property to fund the legal proceedings.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 09/02/2023 17:07:59 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1504325

registered interest
date	02/09/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of domestic abuse in (a) Newport West constituency, (b) Wales and (c) England have received Legal Aid in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	46088
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2022 answer text <p>The requested information is not held centrally. It is not a requirement for an individual to disclose if they have been a victim of domestic abuse when applying for legal aid unless they are applying for legal aid in connection with a protective order or private family law cases under the domestic violence gateway. Consequently, it is not possible to specify how much legal aid has been spent across the whole of the legal aid scheme on domestic abuse victims in each of the last three years.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency’s published statistics <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-january-to-march-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-january-to-march-2022</a> contains information regarding volumes of applications granted in connection with applying for protective orders and those applying for legal aid under the domestic violence gateway (see tables 6.1 and 6.8-10).</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 20/09/2022 10:14:56 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1455181

registered interest
date	28/03/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on legal aid for domestic abuse victims in each of the last 10 years; how many domestic abuse victims have been denied access to legal aid in each year since means testing was introduced; and what estimate he has made of savings to the public purse in each year since means testing was introduced.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	148324
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/03/2022 answer text <p>The requested information is not held centrally. It is not a requirement for an individual to disclose if they have been a victim of domestic abuse when applying for legal aid unless they are applying for legal aid in connection with a protective order or private family law cases under the domestic violence gateway. Consequently, it is not possible to specify how much legal aid has been spent across the whole of the legal aid scheme on domestic abuse victims in each of the last ten years.</p><p> </p><p>Expenditure on legal aid for domestic abuse victims to obtain a protective order, such as a non-molestation order, an occupation order or a forced marriage protection order is published within the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics (table 6.5) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-july-to-september-2021" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-july-to-september-2021</a>. This expenditure only captures the cost of civil representation i.e. where court proceedings are issued and covers the period from 1 April 2008 to 30 September 2021.</p><p>The official statistics (tables 6.8-6.10) also provide data regarding volumes of applications for legal aid received in connection with private family proceedings under the domestic violence gateway introduced on 1 April 2013. The domestic violence gateway requires the applicant to provide evidence that they have experienced or at risk of experiencing domestic abuse in order to bring family legal aid services into scope. The official statistics include information about the number of unsuccessful applications submitted under the domestic violence gateway. Unsuccessful applications will include cases where legal aid was refused (whether due to financial eligibility, application of the merits criteria or failure to provide compliant gateway evidence), where the application was withdrawn or discontinued at the applicant’s request or where the application was rejected for administrative reasons.</p><p>The official statistics (table 6.1) include details of the number of applications that were unsuccessful (for any reason including where the application was withdrawn by the individual) in each category of law, including domestic abuse cases where legal aid was sought specifically in connection with an application for a protective order. However, it is not possible to specify the number of unsuccessful applications submitted by victims of domestic abuse across the whole of the legal aid scheme as this data is not recorded.</p><p> </p><p>The majority of civil legal aid services, including proceedings relating to protective orders and private family law cases, have always been subject to means testing both under current and previous legal aid legislation.</p><p>Under current legal aid legislation, the Director of Legal Aid Casework has a discretion where the application related to proceedings concerning protective orders to waive the financial eligibility limits for both income and capital where she considers it equitable to do so. All applicants seeking protection from domestic abuse may access legal aid irrespective of their financial circumstances, although they may be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of the case from either income or capital.</p><p> </p><p>On 15 March the Government launched a <a href="https://consult.justice.gov.uk/legal-aid/legal-aid-means-test-review/" target="_blank">consultation</a> on its proposals following a review of the legal aid means test, which include specific proposals to support better victims of domestic abuse applying for legal aid in in connection with a protective order or other civil proceedings. For example, any disputed assets – including property – will not be included in a means assessment. This is much fairer for domestic abuse victims who are contesting a property and who cannot use their equity in that property to fund the legal proceedings.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 31/03/2022 16:29:37 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1438437

registered interest
date	07/03/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much legal aid funding was provided under the domestic violence gateway in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	135633
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2022 answer text <p>The domestic violence gateway was introduced in 2013. In January 2018, amendments were made to the legislation which removed the time limits on supporting evidence and widened the range of supporting evidence that can be accepted by the Legal Aid Agency, which has increased expenditure in subsequent years.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is determined to protect and support better the victims of abuse and their children and bring perpetrators to justice. This is why the Government passed the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 last April, representing our commitment to transforming our response to this crime. For the first time, there will be a wide-ranging statutory definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abusive behaviour beyond physical violence, including emotional, coercive or controlling behaviour, and economic abuse. Our aim is to ensure that domestic abuse is properly understood, considered unacceptable and actively challenged across statutory agencies and in public attitudes.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested is set out in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Expenditure, £</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>11,766,972</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>19,567,817</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-19</p></td><td><p>24,768,973</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-20</p></td><td><p>31,250,269</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-21</p></td><td><p>38,185,819</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The data is accurate as up to June 2021. Details regarding volumes of applications submitted and granted under the domestic violence gateway can be found in tables 6.8, 6.9 and 6.10 of the published legal aid statistics: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2021" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2021</a>.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 14/03/2022 15:35:00 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1419156

registered interest
date	02/02/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of support provided through the legal aid system for victims of domestic abuse in Newport West constituency.
tabling member constituency	Newport West
tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
uin	117073
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>Access to justice is a fundamental right and this Government is committed to ensuring that everyone gets the timely support they need, including legal aid, to navigate the justice system.</p><p>The Government is clear that victims of domestic abuse must have access to the help that they need.</p><p>The Ministry of Justice has provided just under £151m to victim support services this year (2021/22), which is an increase of over £100m on the budget in 2010/11. This includes an extra £51m to increase support for rape and domestic abuse victims, building on the emergency funding to help domestic abuse and sexual violence services meet COVID-driven demand.</p><p>We are currently conducting a review of the means test for legal aid, and this is specifically considering domestic abuse victims. We plan to publish this consultation shortly. We have also widened the evidence requirements for domestic abuse victims, making it easier for victims to obtain and provide the evidence they need to access legal aid and removed all time limits for providing evidence. We have legislated so that GPs can no longer charge for providing evidence.</p><p>We have already made some further changes to improve access to legal aid by removing the cap on the amount of mortgage debt used in determining access to civil legal aid.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 10/02/2022 16:59:15 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones

1353371

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many domestic abuse survivors have had an application for legal aid denied in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	44173
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>Legal aid is available to obtain an injunction to protect survivors of domestic violence. This is not subject to any upper means limit; applicants cannot be found financially ineligible for this form of support.</p><p> </p><p>Save for the above, whether someone is a survivor of domestic violence is not recorded for types of legal aid for other categories of law, eligibility for which would be subject to the applicable means and merits tests.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 10/09/2021 16:01:25 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy

1353373

registered interest
date	07/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Abuse
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of domestic violence have had an application for legal aid denied in relation to an application for an occupation order in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Tottenham
tabling member printed	Mr David Lammy
uin	44174
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/09/2021 answer text <p>Legal aid is available to obtain an injunction to protect survivors of domestic violence. This is not subject to any upper means limit; applicants cannot be found financially ineligible for this form of support. Applications are subject to a merits test to assess their suitability for legal aid funding. Please note that volumes relate to applications for legal aid and not individual applicants; an individual may submit more than one application for public funding. Less than 1.4% of applications for legal aid for a non-molestation order were refused since 2010. Less than 7% of applications for an occupation order were refused since 2010.</p><p> </p><p>Applications for legal aid for occupation orders and non-molestation orders:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>OCCUPATION ORDERS</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>YEAR</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>APPLICATIONS</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>REFUSALS</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-2011</p></td><td><p>715</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-2012</p></td><td><p>524</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-2013</p></td><td><p>600</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-2014</p></td><td><p>208</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-2015</p></td><td><p>215</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-2016</p></td><td><p>243</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-2017</p></td><td><p>354</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-2018</p></td><td><p>301</p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>373</p></td><td><p>44</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>332</p></td><td><p>42</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>321</p></td><td><p>32</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>NON-MOLESTATION ORDERS</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>YEAR</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>APPLICATIONS</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>REFUSALS</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-2011</p></td><td><p>11,649</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-2012</p></td><td><p>10,520</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-2013</p></td><td><p>11,495</p></td><td><p>25</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-2014</p></td><td><p>15,261</p></td><td><p>68</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-2015</p></td><td><p>14,121</p></td><td><p>131</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-2016</p></td><td><p>13,461</p></td><td><p>132</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-2017</p></td><td><p>13,251</p></td><td><p>235</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-2018</p></td><td><p>13,399</p></td><td><p>307</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-2019</p></td><td><p>13,189</p></td><td><p>406</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-2020</p></td><td><p>16,148</p></td><td><p>391</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-2021</p></td><td><p>21,790</p></td><td><p>403</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 44175 question first answered 15/09/2021 14:36:47 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	206 label Biography information for Mr David Lammy