Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether those negatively affected by sodium valproate will be eligible for legal aid when pursuing a claim through NHS Resolution.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 redefined the scope of civil legal aid and a number of matters, including most medical negligence cases, are no longer covered by public funding. Legal aid may be available under the exceptional case funding scheme, where failure to provide it would breach or risk breaching human rights under European Court of Human Rights or European Union law. Legal aid for clinical negligence remains for cases where a child has serious neurological injuries and as a result is severely disabled, subject to meeting certain conditions.