The government is to cut £325m from the Ministry of Justice’s budget, it said today.

The cuts will form part of £6.2bn in savings aimed at reducing the UK’s deficit, outlined by the chief secretary to the Treasury David Laws today.

The news comes as justice secretary Kenneth Clarke told the BBC’s Politics Show in the East Midlands that he had offered to cut legal aid as part of the deficit reduction programme.

Clarke is reported to have said that the legal aid service needed to be improved, for less money, and promised a ‘sensible’ approach to making savings.

Other government department cuts include £780m at the Department for Communities and Local Government; £367m at the Home Office; £535m at the Department for Work and Pensions; £451m at the Chancellors’ Departments; and £836m at the Department for Business.