Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that legal aid is made available in cases where discrimination is alleged on the grounds of a landlord or letting agency not accepting a tenant on housing or other benefit; and what mechanisms are available to be used by those who have experienced such discrimination to protect their rights.

The scope of legal aid is set out under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. In discrimination cases, legal aid is in scope where there is a breach of the Equality Act 2010, subject to means and merits tests. Legal aid is also available for individuals at risk of homelessness.

For matters which do not qualify for legal aid, there are a range of options available to support individuals through the legal process.

The Government recognises the key role that charities in the advice sector play to help people with their legal problems and that is why we have recently delivered additional investment of over £5m for not for profit organisations who provide specialist legal advice, such as Law Centres, and a number of other charities. In addition, in partnership with the Access to Justice Foundation, we have launched our £3.1m grant to fund services to help litigants in person dealing with a civil or family law matter. The new grant is designed to fund services provided at local, regional and national levels with the aim of understanding more about how those services can combine to help people. This new grant is in addition to the more than £9m that the MoJ has invested in support for litigants in person, since 2015, through our Litigants in Person Support Strategy.