Ministry of Justice follow-up: Autumn 2025

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry
Opened: 10 Jul 2025 Parliament page
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 … Read more
16 Recommendations
11 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
6 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 10 events
1 Apr
2026
Report published
12 Mar
2026
Correspondence
8 Jan
2026
Correspondence
7 Jan
2026
Report published
17 Nov
2025
Correspondence
17 Nov
2025
Correspondence
28 Oct
2025
Correspondence
23 Oct
2025
Oral evidence
23 Oct
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
17 Jul
2025
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
23 Oct 2025
View on parliament.uk
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
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 results
Clear
11 Recommendation Deferred
59th Report - Ministry of Justice …
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 … Read more
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
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12 Recommendation Deferred
59th Report - Ministry of Justice …
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 … Read more
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 Committee on progress against that plan in October 2026.
HM Treasury
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20 Recommendation Deferred
59th Report - Ministry of Justice …
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 … Read more
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
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23 Conclusion Deferred
59th Report - Ministry of Justice …
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 … Read more
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
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Government Response AI assessment · 27 of 16 classified
Accepted 12
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 10
Deferred 4
Total 16 recs + 11 conclusions
Correspondence 6 letters
12 Mar 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice relating to recommendation 4 of the Committee’s Report on Ministry of Justice follow-up: Autumn 2025, 27 February 2026
Parliament page
8 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice relating to Ministry of Justice follow-up: Autumn 2025, 11 December 2025
Parliament page
17 Nov 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice relating to the transcript of the Committee’s evidence session on 23 October 2025 (Follow-Up: Autumn 2025), 06 November 2025
Parliament page
17 Nov 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice relating to the transcript of the Committee’s evidence session on 23 October 2025 (Follow-Up: Autumn 2025), 06 November 2025
Parliament page
28 Oct 2025 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and associated papers relating to HMP Dartmoor, 21 October 2025
Parliament page
17 Jul 2025 From committee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice relating to the follow up on PAC reports and implementation actions, 15 July 2025
Parliament page