In 2021/22, the Department spent £1.6 billion on legal aid to ensure this vital support is accessible.<\/p>
The volume of providers holding legal aid contracts at any given time is subject to change due to market forces, and other factors such as the internal management and updating of contract schedules. As such, a decline in contracts does not necessarily equate to a loss of provision in the area as this can occur due to mergers or other consolidation activity.<\/p>
The Legal Aid Agency keeps market capacity under constant review, ensuring access across England and Wales and taking immediate action where required. We are also undertaking a review of the civil legal aid market to identify changes which could be pursued in the longer term to make the market more effective and efficient.<\/p>
We have introduced a 15% uplift across most fee schemes in line with the recommendations made in the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review. Uplifts for solicitors and barristers have already started being paid for new cases following the increased rates which came into force on 30 September 2022.<\/p>
We have also applied the recent fee uplifts to the vast majority of existing Crown Court cases to address concerns that the uplifted fees did not apply to previous work. This came into force on 31 October 2022.<\/p>
Alongside this, we have consulted on changes to the Legal Aid Means Test which will mean an additional 3.5 million people in England and Wales will have access to legal aid at the magistrates\u2019 court, and 2 million more will have access to civil legal aid. Additionally, wherever you are in England and Wales, legal advice on a range of civil issues is available through the Civil Legal Aid telephone service.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4004", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mike Freer"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Finchley and Golders Green"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mike Freer"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-11-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-11-11T11:07:16.1Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-11-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Legal Aid Scheme"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to address the decrease in legal aid firms in the UK over the past 12 years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4788", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Fleur Anderson"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Putney"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Fleur Anderson"} ], "uin" : "78853"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1227309", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1227309/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
DCMS has always been clear that the Performing Arts guidance would be updated on the basis of the latest science and public health context.<\/p>
<\/p>
The PERFORM study (published 20 August) has indicated that it is the cumulative aerosol transmission from both those performing in and attending events that is likely to create the risk of transmission. As a result of these findings we have updated the Performing Arts guidance to confirm that non-professionals can now engage in all activities, including singing, wind and brass and confirmed that where non-professional groups plan to meet, there are no set limits on the numbers who can be involved when taking place outside and/or in a Covid-secure venue. This is in line with rules on meeting people outside your household for clubs and groups and gatherings in Covid-secure venues.<\/p>
<\/p>
Organisations must ensure that they carry out an appropriate COVID-19 risk assessment and that individuals are socially distanced at all times. Organisations will want to minimise risk as far as possible and the Performing Arts guidance sets out a number of mitigations that should be considered to minimise risk including operating outside where possible, limiting the numbers involved in and duration of activity and considering how ventilation can be improved.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4008", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gosport"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Caroline Dinenage"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-09-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "78852"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-09-07T14:43:23.527Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-07-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Music: Coronavirus"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the level of transmission of covid-19 between individuals in (a) professional and (b) amateur choirs that requires them to be dealt with differently in guidance.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4682", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Luke Pollard"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Luke Pollard"} ], "uin" : "78853"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }