Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing payment rates for legal aid in family law cases, in the context of his Department's decision to uplift the rates paid for all housing and immigration legal aid work.

This Government is committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of civil legal aid, including family legal aid, and we are keen to work closely with practitioners and their representative bodies to look at how best we can address this.

Between January 2023 and March 2025, the Ministry of Justice undertook a comprehensive review of civil legal aid and concluded a consultation on uplifts to housing and debt, and immigration and asylum legal aid fees, which will inject an additional £20 million into the sector each year once fully implemented.

This investment will help the Government deliver commitments to reduce the asylum backlog, end hotel use, increase returns and ensure the most vulnerable can navigate a complex legal system and access justice.

Whilst there are no immediate plans to increase the fee rate in family law, the Ministry of Justice is looking at other potential changes that could support providers, for example, (civil) contractual requirements regarding provider offices and limits to the provision of remote legal aid that providers say are burdensome. Any changes would aim to give providers more autonomy in meeting client need, while maintaining effective in-person provision for clients who need this.