First Minister’s Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 21 Tachwedd 2024.
Pauline McNeill
Llafur
This week, The Herald has been running an excellent series to highlight the crisis in legal aid. It is not only in criminal legal aid that lawyers are abandoning their profession, but in civil legal aid. Four out of five lawyers who work in civil legal aid in Glasgow will no longer take on protective order cases for victims of domestic abuse. In 1999, lawyers accepted the principle of one fee of £500 for work on a single case; 25 years later, that fee is only £572, and more work is required, which has resulted in many young lawyers entering the legal profession with better options, including the Crown Office.
Does the First Minister accept that this is a crisis and that it would be reprehensible if domestic abuse victims could not access a lawyer? Does he agree that the way forward is for Scotland to invest in the whole legal aid system—in fact, the whole justice system—by an annual uprating of fees and by invigorating the trainee scheme to encourage young lawyers to choose that branch of the legal profession to demonstrate that there is a future for legal aid in Scotland?
John Swinney
Scottish National Party
It is essential that young lawyers who are emerging into the legal profession enter a variety of elements of that profession. The points that Pauline McNeill has made in that respect are absolutely valid.
Evidence from the Scottish Legal Aid Board shows that cases that involve allegations of domestic abuse are coming through the judicial system. That is welcome, because it is important for those who are reporting potential crimes to see those crimes pursued as part of the judicial system.
The Government will engage actively on questions in relation to the future of legal aid. We recognise that reform is needed in the legal aid system, which is why our document “The Vision for Justice in Scotland” contains an action plan to reform it. We will take forward the actions that are set out in that document.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
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