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

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 1240 7 January 2026
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 27 items (16 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 27 of 27 classified)
Accepted 12
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 10
Deferred 4
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifty-ninth report from Session 2024-26 · published 1 Apr 2026
Read the government response ↗ Response on the tracker
Clear

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 results
11 Recommendation Deferred
Make timely decision on HMP Dartmoor reoccupation, considering asbestos and negotiating earlier lease.
Recommendation
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 Summary
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
Legal aid deserts' and remote advice disproportionately exclude vulnerable groups from justice.
Recommendation
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 Summary
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
Previous committee highlighted MoJ's slow progress reviewing legal aid system sustainability
Recommendation
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 Summary
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
Stakeholders warn MoJ's actions on legal aid sustainability are insufficient and too slow
Conclusion
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 Summary
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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