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Was there any point in the written submissions process and the recent Commons Justice Select Committee ? I suspect not.

This was just an exercise in creating the impression that this inevitability was the result of a thorough and fair democratic consultancy process.

Many people spent a great deal of their valuable time compiling statistics, gathering evidence and preparing comprehensive written submissions. In return, the Government have totally ignored what they are being told regarding the inevitable damage to the right to access to justice.

The case for change was simply not made out at the select committee. The MPs on that committee will have come away from it with the firm view that the proposed changes were unnecessary and potentially damaging to the principle of access to justice for all. As such I am at a loss to understand how these particular changes have been given the green light.

The implementation date is the only slightly surprising element of this story.