Questions now from the party spokespeople. Welsh Conservatives spokesperson, Mark Isherwood.

Diolch, Llywydd. What engagement have you had with the UK Ministry of Justice regarding their 15 March announcement that an extra £135 million will be spent on the legal aid sector every year to match the recommendations made by an independent review of the system, overseen by Sir Christopher Bellamy QC, which, added to the extra £200 million each year to speed up the courts system, will bring total taxpayer funding for criminal defence to £1.2 billion a year?

Thank you for that question, and it's an important area, legal aid, and something we have discussed in this Chamber on many occasions, because of its importance in terms of access to justice. And of course I welcome any increased funding that goes into legal aid, and I welcome also the additional proposals in respect of changing the means test arrangements to make access to legal aid easier.

That having been said, there is a consultation that is under way at the moment and there is considerable concern that, in quite a number of areas of the recommendations by Lord Bellamy, the UK Government has not yet given the commitments that were being expected. And of course, this has resulted in—. I think the indication from members of the legal profession is that they will be engaging in legal action.

I've raised this issue at every opportunity I've had with the relevant justice Minister, who, of course, has recently resigned. So, whereas I welcome some improvement, I think there is still a long way to go and there is still a considerable level of uncertainty as to what is actually going to be the outcome of the UK Government's commitment. Even the Bellamy recommendations did not, in my view, go far enough to tackle the issue of the advice deserts we have. It is clear that legal aid significantly underfunds those firms that work particularly with legal aid and advice in communities. But this is a matter that I will come back to and raise within this Senedd at a later stage when we know the full outcome of the UK Government's consultation and the proposals it intends to introduce.

Thank you. Well, you referred to, among other things, welcoming the removal of means testing, but how do you respond to the inclusion within March's announcement of funding to ensure that professionals are better paid for the work they actually carry out, and help free up capacity in court; boost pay for lawyers representing suspects in police stations; give more people the opportunity to forge a career in criminal law, whatever their background; open access to civil legal aid for around 2 million more people in Wales and England, and remove the means test, as you said, altogether for some applicants, particularly to benefit domestic abuse victims who are disputing house ownership; remove the financial cap on eligibility for Crown Court defendants; provide 3.5 million more people in Wales and England with access to criminal legal aid at the magistrates' court; and for the first time ever, provide free legal representation for all under-18s and for parents challenging doctors over the withdrawal of their child's life support, and free legal help for families at inquests where there's been a potential breach of human rights?

Well, thank you for that further question. Of course, it presents legal aid within a context that does not exist in reality, because the majority of people, and certainly some of the poorest in our society, do not actually have access to many areas of justice that they should have access to.

I suppose a starting point is that any improvement is an improvement, but this has to be put against the backdrop of enormous cutbacks in legal aid that have taken place since the Conservatives came into Government in 2010, to the extent that the legal aid system is massively underfunded; there are many areas of legal entitlement that no longer exist; and, there are many firms that are unquestionably unviable commercially now because of their dependency on legal aid. Lord Bellamy's recommendations seek to improve that. So, any improvement in rates for the lawyers that conduct legal aid work, any expansion, any improvement on legal aid entitlement and the means testing, is an improvement, but it is still very much sticking plaster in terms of the provision of a properly funded legal aid scheme and does not, under any stretch of the imagination, make up for the very serious legal aid cuts that have taken place over the past 12 years, which have very much restricted the accessibility of legal aid and entitlement to legal advice for many sections of our communities who most depend upon it.

Well, according to my dictionary, I think you're referring to 'austerity', which is defined as not having enough money, and, as such, it was an inheritance, not a choice, but tough decisions then have enabled the improvements now being announced. And hopefully, I agree with you, there will be further improvements, as we look forward to the forthcoming years.

But the court backlog was higher in the last year of the UK Labour Government than it was under the UK Conservative Government before the start of the pandemic. How have you engaged positively with the UK Government's 21 April announcement that courts will continue working at full capacity for a second year to speed up justice for victims, with the cap on sitting days lifted for another year? This is part of a raft of measures to cut backlogs in the courts, where the investment will mean more trials can take place, delivering swifter justice and reducing the backlog of cases, which rose significantly during the pandemic—[Interruption.]—where the same decision last year meant nearly 17,000 more days were sat in the Crown Court than in the year prior to the pandemic. And this sits alongside the extension of 30 Nightingale courts until March 2023—I would take an intervention if it wasn't questions, but I have to stick to questions—digital hearings, and the significantly increased investment for criminal legal aid.

Thank you for that further series of questions. The issue of backlogs in the courts is certainly something that, in the past decade, has significantly deteriorated. As I say, equally, the access to justice, the availability of lawyers in some areas, has become increasingly difficult as well. There is no doubt also that the closure of courts by the UK Government, and particularly the magistrates' courts, has also exacerbated that particular issue.

The issue of backlogs in terms of the COVID period that we've been through is one where, certainly within Wales, from all the reports I've had—from lawyers, from judiciary, and from those who work in the courts—this was one of the most successful of the areas, and partly because of the ability of the courts and those who work in and use the courts to be able to work collaboratively within Wales in order to ensure that cases continued to be heard.

Now, in terms of serious criminal cases, there remains a significant number of very, very substantial backlogs that need to be addressed. Many of these cannot be addressed by the issue of digitisation; there are very significant ethical issues over digitisation. But certainly within the tribunals system, which is within the Welsh Government's jurisdiction, having digital hearings, online hearings, has certainly been very successful in actually keeping those tribunals operating. And I certainly very much commend all those who've worked within that particular system.

I think the problem with backlogs in courts goes back to a significant underfunding of justice, going back many decades, and I will concede that particular point. I think it is particularly exacerbated over the last 10 years, and I think you'll be aware—you didn't mention it, but you'll be aware, of course—that there are significant issues now in terms of the Ministry of Justice court estate and the standard of that, the suitability of our courts, and no less a case than the state of the civil justice centre within Cardiff, which is something that desperately needs to be addressed.

Questions now from the Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Rhys ab Owen.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Cwnsler Cyffredinol, at the end of March, the Welsh Government statement on taking forward the recommendations of the Commission on Justice in Wales and the Law Commission report on Welsh Tribunals was pulled. When will the statement now be made, and can the Counsel General please guarantee to me that the statement will provide key milestones, with clear and accountable leadership and direction? Diolch.

That's a very important question. And I can tell you that the Minister for Social Justice and I have been working very closely on a whole range of justice issues, across the span of both our portfolios—not just the legislative justice area, but also the socioeconomic justice. Because I think we believe very strongly that socioeconomic justice and legal justice go very much hand in hand. Part of the issues with regard to the devolution of justice, I think, are going to be addressed in work that is under way at the moment, which we're hoping to publish imminently. So, it is not quite there yet, but it is not far off. That will also, I think, make very specific reference to the recommendations of the Law Commission on tribunals, and the issue of tribunal reform, I can assure you, is something that is very much on the radar and will form part of that broad justice presentation that we hope to be making within a matter of weeks.

Diolch yn fawr, Cwnsler Cyffredinol. I'd like to concentrate now on the Welsh Tribunals. You'll be aware that we've had several reports now that recommend the separation of the Welsh Tribunals unit from the Welsh Government, and this, in fact, has been endorsed by you and the Welsh Government. But rather than setting up a non-ministerial department, why has the Welsh Tribunals unit been moved from the office of the First Minister to the economy, trade and constitution department? And with regard to facilities, you mentioned a lack of facilities when it comes to court. The only facility for devolved tribunals, Oak House, the lease there is ending next year. What plans do Welsh Government have to ensure adequate facilities for Welsh Tribunals?

That's a very fair point. We do, as part of the reform of the tribunal system, want to ensure that there is judicial separation and proper independence of that system, but also that the tribunals have the proper facilities that are necessary for them to be seen as proper courts, to have the respect of proper courts, and to have the proper facilities for those who are participating with them. That is very much under consideration and under review, and will be part of the issue that I referred to earlier in terms of our broader review of the overall justice system within Wales, the recommendations of the Thomas commission, and issues around the devolution of justice.