Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of access to legal aid by claimants of universal credit.

The Government passports all recipients of Universal Credit through the criminal legal aid means test as well as the income test applied under the civil legal aid scheme, and will continue to do so whilst the review of legal aid means testing is ongoing. The review, announced in the Government’s Legal Support Action Plan on 7 February 2019, is studying the thresholds for legal aid entitlement and will assess the effectiveness with which the means testing arrangements appropriately protect access to justice. The review will particularly focus on those who are vulnerable.

The Legal Aid Agency regularly monitors access to legal aid-funded services by undertaking capacity reviews. A list of law firms offering legal aid, showing location and type of advice, each can provide, is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers.