Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that members of the public are able to identify and access appropriate legal advice and support where their needs cross different areas of the justice system, including criminal justice, family law and immigration; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing referral and signposting arrangements.

The Government recognises that people often experience legal problems that cut across different parts of the justice system and is committed to ensuring that individuals can identify and access the support most appropriate to their needs.

The Government supports people to identify and access appropriate legal advice and support through the provision of legal aid, and by grant funding legal support. Legal Aid is the system of public funding to help meet the costs of legal advice, mediation and representation in a court or tribunal for those who are eligible. People can check their eligibility for legal aid and find legal aid advisers working in the areas of law relating to their legal problems, using the ‘Find a Legal Aid Adviser’ service on GOV.UK. Legal support services provide non-means tested information, informal advice and support to people seeking to resolve their legal issue. Individuals can seek information and support online via gov.uk and advicenow, which may signpost to other providers of legal support, including Citizens Advice, Law Centres, and local or specialist charities.

Anyone arrested and detained at a police station is entitled to free and independent legal advice and representation through the criminal legal aid scheme, regardless of their means.

The Government has invested £26 million in new funding for legal support grants, including £16 million for a new legal support grant launching on 1 October. The new grant will support frontline organisations across England and Wales to provide free information, support and guidance across a range of civil, family and tribunal issues, from early intervention to at-court assistance, while strengthening the national online support offer. These services frequently work in partnership with other organisations in the advice sector e.g CAB, enabling people with complex or multiple needs to be referred to more specialist support where required. Some current grant recipients have also used funding to strengthen referral and signposting arrangements between services.

As part of our work on legal support, we are working across Government and with the sector to understand the effectiveness of different delivery models and promote the use of the most effective ways to support people, including through the co-location of social welfare advice in various settings including health.