§ 24. Mr. Chaytor:To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the future of legal aid. [140733]
§ Mr. Leslie:The Government remains firmly committed to the principles of legal aid—both criminal and civil—as a means of protecting fundamental rights and tackling social exclusion.
We must make sure that our services are tightly focused on the needs of the public.
We also have to live within our financial allocation—now almost £2 billion—with demand increasing more quickly than inflation. If we do not bear down on this problem it will limit the money available for tackling social exclusion.