Foreign National Offenders: Legal Aid

The Secretary of State Was Asked – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 7 March 2017.

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Photo of Simon Danczuk Simon Danczuk Labour, Rochdale 12:00, 7 March 2017

What proportion of legal aid is allocated to cases of foreign nationals convicted in the UK who are appealing against deportation.

Photo of Oliver Heald Oliver Heald The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

It is not possible to isolate cases of that type using the data recorded by the Legal Aid Agency.

Photo of Simon Danczuk Simon Danczuk Labour, Rochdale

Just as McCloskey condemned lawyers from Burton & Burton, which represented members of the Rochdale grooming gang, for gaming the system, he also said that Government should investigate that and other examples. What steps is the Minister taking to look at the bad use of legal aid?

Photo of Oliver Heald Oliver Heald The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

As the hon. Gentleman may know, the Legal Aid Agency does investigate cases that are brought to its attention, and there have been recent examples where contracts have been removed. It is also important to make the point that, even where there is the possibility of legal aid and representation for foreign national offenders, it is limited to cases involving the refugee convention or articles 2 or 3.