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 people’s access to legal aid, despite evidence which suggests access is getting more difficult. While the government’s response to the inquiry agreed with all of the PAC’s recommendations, it only committed to taking limited actions in response. The PAC will be looking at how to address areas in need of improvement in the near future.
Separately, the PAC’s January 2025 evidence session on prison estate capacity saw questions around the lease renewal for HMP Dartmoor by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). The evidence session will see further questions around wider issues relating to management of properties, quality of decision-making, and lessons applied to and learned from this case.
If you have evidence on these issues, please submit it here by 23:59 on Thursday 9 October 2025.
Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is the Committee which decides what information to publish and how. It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this.
Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues.