Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average time taken to secure appeal hearings for people whose entry clearance applications have been refused.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
Published figures can be found at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his oral contribution of 8 September 2015, Official Report, column 222, what progress he has made on talks with the Bar and the solicitors' profession on maintaining access to justice and enhancing the quality of advocacy in courts.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
On 1 October 2015, the government published a consultation on Preserving and Enhancing the Quality of Criminal Advocacy, which sets out a package of measures designed to ensure the quality of criminal defence advocacy. These proposals seek to address the concerns highlighted by judges and legal practitioners, as well as Sir Bill Jeffrey in his Review of Independent Criminal Advocacy, published in May 2014. This consultation will close on 27 November this year and the government is keen to listen to all views on the proposals.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that people eligible for legal aid are able to access such aid.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Government is committed to making sure that those eligible for legal aid have access to quality services. Legal aid is an important part of access to justice and our reforms mean a legally aided lawyer is still available for those who most need one and legal aid is affordable for the hard-working taxpayers who pay for it.