Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the savings from a residence test for claimants of legal aid.

The Government does not currently record the residency status of applicants for civil legal aid so cannot accurately estimate the amount of funding currently received by those who would not satisfy the residence test. However, there is likely to be a reduction in legal aid volumes and expenditure from imposing a residence test on civil legal aid, resulting in savings to the legal aid fund.

We have been clear that the introduction of the residence test supports the principle that legal aid should only be available to those who have a strong connection to this country. This is fair to the taxpayer who pays for it and will help to restore credibility to our legal aid system.