Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the legal advice provided to asylum claimants and foreign national offenders during immigration cases.

The Ministry of Justice has not undertaken a specific assessment of the adequacy of legal advice provided to asylum claimants and foreign national offenders in immigration cases.

Reported cases in which immigration advice may have fallen below expected standards are concerning and underline the important role of the relevant regulators in maintaining standards and investigating misconduct. Under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, immigration advisers must be registered with the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) or authorised through a Designated Qualifying Regulator (DQR) in England and Wales, or a Designated Professional Body (DPB) in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The IAA, DQRs and DPBs are responsible for ensuring advisers are fit, competent and meet appropriate professional standards.

For advisers and organisations it regulates directly, the IAA assesses fitness and competence as part of registration, requires organisations to renew their registration annually, conducts audits, and can investigate complaints and take regulatory or enforcement action where appropriate.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) exercises The Law Society of England and Wales' functions as a DQR for solicitors and undertook thematic reviews of immigration and asylum legal services in 2022 (https://www.sra.org.uk/immigration-thematic/) and 2024 (https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/research-publications/thematic-review-asylum-legal-services/). These reviews found generally good standards of service while identifying areas for improvement. The SRA has also published guidance on solicitors' obligations when providing immigration advice, available here: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/immigration-work-guidance/.

In addition, the Legal Aid Agency monitors providers of legal aid funded immigration and asylum advice through independent peer reviews, which assess the quality of legal work, and contract compliance audits.