Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mechanisms will be put in place for his Department to recoup the costs from other departments of legal aid representation for bereaved families under the Public Office (Accountability) Bill; and what plans does he have to report to Parliament on the operation of this process.

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill will provide non-means tested legal aid for bereaved families at inquests where a public authority is an interested person. The cost of the legal aid expansion will be met by public authorities, or their central Government department, where they are an interested person at an inquest.

We intend for this to help foster proportionate participation and spending behaviours amongst interested public authorities, including in the use of their own legal representation, at inquests. We have been working closely with Departments to develop this model.