Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who his Department has taken evidence from as part of its review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

The Lord Chancellor has confirmed that we shall conduct an evidence-based review of Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), assessing the changes against their objectives. The Government remains committed to publishing the findings of the review by the end of this year.

The engagement phase of the post-implementation review into our legal aid reforms is currently underway and we are keen to hear from a range of stakeholders and interested parties to establish the impact of the changes.

As part of our evidence gathering, we are hosting a series of engagement groups with stakeholders. We have already conducted the first round of engagement meetings and will be holding a further round of meetings later this month.

Alongside this the review team are engaging with a number of interested parties in a small group or 1-2-1 meeting. Other interested parties, including members of the public, are able to submit data or evidence directly so that their experiences can be taken into account.