To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support the digital transformation of the legal sector.

Since November 2019 the government has funded the LawtechUK programme, established to support the digital transformation of the UK legal sector. The programme is delivered by Tech Nation and brings together industry, regulators, the judiciary, academia and government to break down barriers to innovation and improve legal professionals’ awareness and understanding of technology. It has delivered 15 projects to date, including a sandbox to help innovators fast track transformative ideas into products, educational resources, and a ground-breaking feasibility study for how technology can help small businesses resolve disputes.

In August 2022 the government announced a further £4 million of funding for a second phase of support for lawtech. This funding will be used to build on the work delivered so far to increase innovation and adoption of lawtech in the delivery of legal services, support the growth of the lawtech sector in the UK, and enable English and Welsh law and the UK’s jurisdictions to become the foundation for emerging technologies.