Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the accessibility of legal aid for postmasters.
The scope of legal aid is set out under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and applicants are subject to a means and merits test. There are limited circumstances where legal aid may be available for pursuing a compensation claim; this includes claims in relation to abuse by a public authority of its position or powers, and claims involving a breach of convention rights by a public authority subject to the statutory means and merits tests.
Where an issue falls outside the scope of legal aid, funding may still be available through the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) Scheme, where it would breach or risk a breach of human rights or retained enforceable EU law if funding is not provided, subject to the statutory means and merits tests.