Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of legal aid provision in (a) Newport West and (b) England.

The Legal Aid Agency commissions and monitors legal aid services by ‘Procurement Area’ as opposed to by constituency. A full list of contracted providers in England and Wales is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers which can be filtered by selected geographic area.

The LAA seeks to award a minimum of 1 contract for each civil category of law for each procurement area, save in family law where the LAA seeks to award 5 contracts per procurement area. The procurement area which includes Newport West currently exceeds both standards.

The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.