Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 125361 on Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, if his Department will include Scottish representation on the list of organisations and experts it plans to invite to submit evidence to the post-implementation review of that Act.

The legal aid system of Scotland is a devolved matter and is determined by the Scotland Act 1998.

The LASPO post-implementation review is an evidence-based assessment of changes brought about by the legislation on the legal aid system in England and Wales. To this end, we will be analysing evidence and consulting with expert panels and interested parties. If there are any Scottish organisations interested in providing evidence for the post-implementation review, I would encourage them to contact my department to be involved in the process.