Committees

Access to Justice

Inquiry

This inquiry will examine how advice and legal services are adapting to secure access to justice across civil, criminal, and family law, and the impacts of the cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency.

In 2022-23, the Justice Committee undertook a broad inquiry on the Future of Legal Aid, looking at the challenges facing legal aid clients and providers and how they might be tackled. That inquiry built upon work undertaken by the Committee in 2015 on the impact of changes to civil legal aid under Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

This inquiry will consider how the provision of legal advice and representation, and supplementary advice services, have developed in response to the restrictions on the provision of legal aid. It will focus on the scope for future innovation in the nature of services, funding, regulation and technology to support effective access to justice in England and Wales.

Read the Call for Evidence to learn more about this Inquiry.

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:59pm on 30 September 2025.

Upcoming events

View all events

No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Tuesday 9 June 2026
2:00pm Private
2:30pm Public
Access to Justice - Oral evidence 9 June 2026
2:30pm
  • Sarah Sackman MP (Minister for Courts and Legal Services at Ministry of Justice)
  • Jane Harbottle CBE (Chief Executive at Legal Aid Agency)
  • Farah Ziaulla (Joint Director for Legal Aid and Legal Support at Ministry of Justice)
Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 14 April 2026
2:00pm Private
2:30pm Public
Access to Justice - Oral evidence 14 April 2026
2:30pm
  • Richard Orpin (Chief Executive Officer at The Legal Services Board (LSB))
  • Dr Monisha Shah (Incoming Chair at The Legal Services Board (LSB))
3:30pm
  • Sarah Rapson (Chief Executive Officer at Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA))
  • Anna Bradley (Board Chair at Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA))
  • Aileen Armstrong (Executive Director (Strategy, Innovation and External Affairs) at Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA))
The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 24 February 2026
2:00pm Private
2:30pm Public
Access to Justice - Oral evidence 24 February 2026
2:30pm
  • Tom Hayhoe (Chair at Legal Services Consumer Panel)
  • Dr Liz Curran (Associate Professor at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University)
3:30pm
  • Dr John Sorabji (Associate Professor of Law at University College London (UCL))
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 10 February 2026
2:00pm Private
2:30pm Public
Access to Justice - Oral evidence 10 February 2026
2:30pm
  • Professor Linda Mulcahy (Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford, and Collaborator at The Access to Justice Foundation)
3:00pm
  • Liz Bayram (Chief Executive at Advice UK)
  • Dr Philip Drake (Director at Manchester Justice Hub)
  • Dr Lisa Wintersteiger (Chief Executive at Advicenow (formerly known as Law for Life))
  • Mr Nimrod Ben-Cnaan (Head of Policy and Profile at Law Centres Network)
Room 15, Palace of Westminster

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