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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Ministry of Justice follow-up: Autumn 2025

Status: Open Opened: 10 Jul 2025 16 recommendations 11 conclusions 1 report

The Public Accounts Committee will be following up recent scrutiny with the Ministry of Justice in autumn 2025, on various topics. The PAC’s 2024 report into legal aid expressed deep concerns about MoJ’s and the Legal Aid Agency’s lack of curiosity on the impact of decreasing numbers of providers on people’s access to legal aid, …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
59th Report - Ministry of Justice follow-up: Autumn 2025 HC 1240 7 Jan 2026 27 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items
11 Recommendation 59th Report - Ministry of Justice follo… Deferred

Make timely decision on HMP Dartmoor reoccupation, considering asbestos and negotiating earlier lease.

We asked MoJ at what point it would make a judgement on whether continuing the works represented the best value for money. MoJ told us that to date it has spent £1.2 million on radon mitigation works, but that it is not currently spending any money on the site until …

Government response. The MoJ and HMPPS will write to the Committee once the proposed approach to remediating Dartmoor has been decided, which will be in June 2026.
HM Treasury
12 Recommendation 59th Report - Ministry of Justice follo… Deferred

Legal aid deserts' and remote advice disproportionately exclude vulnerable groups from justice.

Our predecessor Committee’s May 2024 report on legal aid in England and Wales raised concerns around access to legal aid advice in areas of the country lacking face-to-face provision of legal aid. Where there are gaps in provision MoJ and LAA often rely on remote advice to fill the gaps. …

Government response. The MoJ commenced a civil demand feasibility study with Ipsos to identify options for the routine monitoring of demand for civil legal aid and will report by the end of March 2026 and the department will report back to the …
HM Treasury
20 Recommendation 59th Report - Ministry of Justice follo… Deferred

Previous committee highlighted MoJ's slow progress reviewing legal aid system sustainability

Our predecessor Committee’s 2024 report on legal aid stated that MoJ had been slow to initiate and complete its large-scale reviews of the sustainability of both the criminal and civil legal aid systems. It raised particular concerns around the civil legal aid sector where legal aid fees had not increased …

Government response. The department will explore options to routinely monitor the profitability of legal aid firms, improve management information collected on demand, streamline processes and reduce administrative burdens, and will provide an update to the Committee on this work in October 2026.
HM Treasury
23 Conclusion 59th Report - Ministry of Justice follo… Deferred

Stakeholders warn MoJ's actions on legal aid sustainability are insufficient and too slow

Written evidence we received from organisations including the Law Society, Public Law Project and Law Centres Network all raised concerns about whether the actions MoJ has taken to date were sufficient or fast enough to tackle long-term sustainability issues.44 For example, the Law Society stressed that for civil legal aid, …

Government response. The department will explore options to routinely monitor the profitability of legal aid firms, improve management information collected on demand, streamline processes and reduce administrative burdens, and will provide an update to the Committee on this work in October 2026.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
23 Oct 2025 Adrian Hannell · Ministry of Justice, Dr Jo Farrar CB OBE · Ministry of Justice, Gemma Hewison · Ministry of Justice, Jane Harbottle · Legal Aid Agency, Jim Barton · HM Prisons and Probation Service View ↗

Correspondence

6 letters
DateDirectionTitle
12 Mar 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice relating to reco…
8 Jan 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice relating to Mini…
17 Nov 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice relating to the …
17 Nov 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice relating to the …
28 Oct 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and associated p…
17 Jul 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice relating to the fo…