U.K., Oct. 27 -- UK Parliament issued the following news:
The Autumn Budget and forthcoming Spending Review provides a ‘key opportunity’ for the Government to match its justice system ‘reform ambitions with the resources required to deliver them’, the Justice Committee has said.
Read the letter
In a letter to the Justice Secretary Alex Norris, published today (October 27), the cross-party Committee warned ‘many of the challenges facing the Ministry of Justice are rooted in long-term resource and capital pressures which cannot be addressed through reform and efficiency measures alone’.
The correspondence calls on the Lord Chancellor to confirm what additional funding the Ministry of Justice is seeking across access to justice, including improving the availability of legal aid and addressing the dire shortage in access to duty solicitors. It also raises the uprating of thresholds for criminal legal aid in both the Crown Court and Magistrates’ Court and for civil legal aid.
Furthermore, it urges clarity over funding for prison maintenance and availability of education in custody, as well as improving the accessibility of the county court estate and judicial recruitment and retention, in line with recommendations made in the Committee’s recent reports.
Chair comment
Chair of the Justice Committee and Labour MP Catherine Atkinson said:
“Across our recent inquiries including into Access to Justice, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, and the Work of the County Court we have repeatedly heard evidence of services struggling to meet rising demand while operating under significant resource and capital funding constraints.
“While we recognise the Department's efforts to modernise services and improve productivity, the evidence presented to the Committee suggests that there are limits to what can be achieved without sufficient investment…
“The Committee is increasingly concerned that the scale and persistence of the pressures across the justice system raise fundamental questions about whether the Department's objectives can be delivered within existing funding settlements.
"The 2026 Autumn Budget and forthcoming Spending Review expected in 2027 provide a key opportunity for the Government to demonstrate how it intends to address these
longstanding pressures and whether it is prepared to match its reform ambitions with the resources required to deliver them.”
Further information
Justice Committee
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