Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Danczuk Excerpts

Tuesday 7th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

No. As I said in my answer to a previous question, the matter of Prison Service pay will be decided nationally. The independent pay review body will also submit evidence throughout this year. That will still be the case where we have governor freedoms, but, in giving governors their budgets, they will be able to decide on the mix of staff and how to deploy them.

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Ind)]

19. What proportion of legal aid is allocated to cases of foreign nationals convicted in the UK who are appealing against deportation.

[The Minister for Courts and Justice (Sir Oliver Heald)]

It is not possible to isolate cases of that type using the data recorded by the Legal Aid Agency.

[Simon Danczuk]

Just as McCloskey condemned lawyers from Burton & Burton, which represented members of the Rochdale grooming gang, for gaming the system, he also said that Government should investigate that and other examples. What steps is the Minister taking to look at the bad use of legal aid?

[Sir Oliver Heald]

As the hon. Gentleman may know, the Legal Aid Agency does investigate cases that are brought to its attention, and there have been recent examples where contracts have been removed. It is also important to make the point that, even where there is the possibility of legal aid and representation for foreign national offenders, it is limited to cases involving the refugee convention or articles 2 or 3.