7. Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Legal Aid and Access to Justice

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:46 pm on 18 January 2022.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 5:46, 18 January 2022

I'm grateful to you, Counsel General, for that statement. I have to say, listening to the Conservative spokesperson this afternoon, I think Herod missed out on some first-class defence there. There seems to be virtually no policy coming from the UK Government that the Conservatives here wouldn't seek to defend. And this is, I think, one of the most pernicious approaches that we've seen from the UK Government, where, over the last decade, we have seen poorer people being deprived of their fundamental right to justice, and that is something that is completely unacceptable and should be unacceptable in any civilised society. And I'm surprised that anybody would seek to defend that.

In terms of our approach, Counsel General, I was very interested in both the statement and then your response to Rhys ab Owen, because I think you said some really important things there. I'm interested to understand how the Welsh Government is bringing together the response that you're making on the legal, political side of things and the work being done by the Minister for Social Justice on advice services, because I think there is an opportunity there to provide some support for people who require it. I'm also interested in how we can work with the universities and law schools across the country to improve the legal infrastructure and to provide more opportunities to provide support for people.

And also, in terms of tribunals—and I think the points that have been made repeatedly by Plaid Cymru on this matter are very important—I was always very concerned by the lack of participation in tribunals from poorer and more deprived communities, and I believe that the issues we're discussing this afternoon will add to that. But how can we ensure that everybody has equal access to the tribunal system, because I'm not convinced that we're in that situation today?  

And finally, Presiding Officer, are there examples that you know of, Counsel General, from other legal jurisdictions, that we can draw upon in order to ensure that we do have access to a first-class advice system and service, and also to legal aid to provide the support for people to ensure that everybody can access justice equally?