59th Report - Ministry of Justice follow-up: Autumn 2025

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 … Read more 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 it decides whether to reoccupy the prison. It explained that it cannot make a decision on this until work the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is doing to look at workplace radon regulations is complete. It expects this work to conclude in December 2025.22 It explained that it will then look at the most sensible decision to make in terms of the site. It acknowledged that this could include giving notice on the lease.23 This should include trying to negotiate an earlier exit date than 2033. We urged MoJ and HMPPS to factor in the possibility that there may be asbestos in the roof of the prison into its decision.24 There must be total transparency on all these matters as soon as possible. 21 Letter from Ministry of Justice concerning HMP Dartmoor, 2 October 2025 22 Letter from the Ministry of Justice, 6 November 2025 23 Qq 16, 20 24 Q 24 10 2 Legal aid recommendations and cyberattack Understanding access to legal aid Show less

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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 … Read more 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. The Committee stressed that ‘legal aid deserts’, large geographic areas without legal aid providers, risk disproportionately penalising groups that cannot access remote advice. Groups affected can include people with a disability or those who have limited access to technology.25 Written evidence we received from the Law Society pointed to research which suggests that millions of people across the UK are digitally excluded (around 24% of the population).26 The Committee recommended in 2024 that MoJ and LAA should clarify what options are available for those unable to make use of remote advice and set out how it plans to better understand the impact of remote provision.27 Show less

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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 … Read more 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 since 1996. The Committee recommended that MoJ needed to improve its ability to respond to emerging sustainability issues in a timely manner and that it should put mechanisms in place to regularly review the profitability of legal aid work.39 Show less

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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, …

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