Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria are applied to children and young people applying to the Exceptional Case Funding scheme.

The Government is acutely aware of the importance of ensuring that vulnerable people such as children and young people have access to justice.

The Lord Chancellor’s Guidance on Exceptional Funding sets out some of the points that caseworkers at the Legal Aid Agency should take into account when deciding any application for civil legal aid exceptional funding, including those from children and young people. These factors include the importance of the issues at stake, the complexity of the procedures and the capability of the applicant to present their case effectively. The age of the child or young person applicant is one factor which caseworkers will always consider and the Guidance sets out specific questions which may be relevant in the case of a child applicant.