Cross-party parliamentary groups merge in the name of justice

Two cross-party parliamentary groups covering legal aid, pro bono and legal education are to unite under a new banner.

The all-party parliamentary groups on legal aid, pro bono and public legal education will reconstitute themselves to become the all-party parliamentary group on access to justice. The group will be co-chaired by Labour MP Karen Buck and Conservative MP Laura Farris.

The legal aid APPG was set up in 2009, the year when the Labour government under Gordon Brown initiated a review of the legal aid system. Lord chancellor Alex Chalk is a former vice-chair. Chalk also chaired the pro bono APPG when it was relaunched in 2016 following the creation of the public legal education APPG. 

Buck, who has chaired the legal aid APPG since the beginning, described the past 14 years as a time of ‘immense pride and huge frustration’.

She said: ‘The pride has come in seeing the fantastic work done by those legal aid lawyers - criminal and civil - not least during our major inquiry into legal aid after Covid, conducted through 2020 and 2021. The frustration has been in seeing, especially during the LASPO and post-LASPO years, how much harder has been the job of those lawyers, and how many people have been denied the help they need - despite compelling evidence that early and expert help can save more than it costs.

‘The legal aid APPG has been a voice for the sector in parliament during some very difficult years and we owe a debt of gratitude to the Legal Aid Practitioners Group for the unwavering and expert support they have given. As we move into a new phase, the cause of "Access to Justice" will burn as brightly as ever.’

The legal aid APPG’s achievements include a major inquiry on the sustainability and recovery of the legal aid sector and co-running a ‘Take Your MP to Work’ campaign with Young Legal Aid Lawyers.

The new APPG will be launched in parliament on 20 June by the lord chancellor.

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