Legal aid is intended to help meet the cost of legal advice, family mediation and representation in a court or tribunal. The rules about who qualifies are set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and regulations referred to by the Counsel General. Whether you qualify will depend on the type of case and your financial circumstances.

Does the Counsel General acknowledge that, last year, the UK Government spent over £1.7 billion on legal aid; that they announced £51 million more for the legal aid sector last year, supporting legal professionals; that they invested £0.25 billion to keep justice moving and support recovery during the pandemic in the last financial year, including over £50 million more for victims and support services; and that the Chancellor's spending review also provides an extra £477 million for the criminal justice system to meet the increased demand from additional police officers and to recover performance following the pandemic?

As a point of fact, does the Counsel General also acknowledge that the court backlog was lower under the current UK Government just before the start of the pandemic than it was in the last year of the UK Labour Government, therefore helping make justice more accessible? Will the Counsel General join me in welcoming the UK Government's extension of 32 Crown Nightingale courtrooms, including one in Swansea, until April 2022, to hold as many hearings as possible in response to coronavirus, and that it is opening a second supercourtroom this week, further increasing capacity for large trials? Does he agree that the UK Government was right to make the estates safe by installing plexiglass screens into over 450 courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms and reconfiguring around 70 courtrooms to hear large trials of up to 10 defendants?

In terms of access to justice, does he welcome the reduction in the number of outstanding cases in magistrates' courts by around 80,000 since its peak in July 2020, that levels of outstanding cases in the Crown Courts are stabilising and that thousands of cases are being listed each week? What consideration has the Counsel General given to the current UK Judicial Review and Courts Bill to give the Crown Court more powers to return cases to the magistrates, reducing demand in the Crown Court and freeing up to 400 sitting days a year? What consideration has he given to the help provided by Civil Legal Advice, or CLA, providing free and confidential advice as part of legal aid in Wales and England?

Last July, the House of Commons Justice Committee report on the future of legal aid identified a real need for a more flexible scheme that allows anyone with a legal problem who cannot afford a lawyer to access early legal advice. The UK Government was due to respond to this report and other related reviews, including its legal aid means test review, as part of its broader legal support action plan by the end of 2021. The Counsel General omitted to mention any of this. What engagement, therefore, has he had with the UK Government regarding these matters and the consultation that will follow? What consideration has he given to the announcement by the UK Government yesterday of additional funding into the family mediation scheme to help thousands more families avoid the courtroom? What role does he consider the Welsh Government's single advice fund partner organisations can or should play in reaching people before their problems spiral out of control, and how could he capture those advice services providing key support that are not supported by the fund?

Calls for the devolution of criminal justice to Wales fail to recognise that criminal activity does not recognise national or regional boundaries, or that over 1.4 million people in Wales—48 per cent of the total—live within 25 miles of the border with England, and 2.7 million—90 per cent of the total—within 50 miles of the border. We're therefore not going to agree on issues around the devolution of justice. However, replying to me last November, he also stated that he was engaging with the UK Government and with the Ministry of Justice on those areas where they could co-operate and where they could make a contribution to improve the arrangements that are already in hand. So, finally, how is this progressing in the context of today's statement?