Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the amount of legal aid that has been allocated to law firms representing litigants who are proposed to be transported to Rwanda for the processing of their asylum applications.

There is no specific allocation of legal aid funds for the representation of asylum seekers who have received removal directions to Rwanda under the Migrant and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda. Funding for legal aid is on a demand led basis, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) does not have a specific budget allocation for delivery of legal aid services under its contracts.

Similarly, legal aid funding is not pre-allocated to providers in individual cases. Claims for payment are, in the majority of cases, submitted at the end of the case where they are subject to assessment by either the LAA or court as may be appropriate.