Westminster update: budget provides money for justice

One thing you need to do

The independent review of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) handling of the Axiom Ince fallout, commissioned by the Legal Services Board, reveals a catalogue of errors and missed opportunities on the part of the SRA.

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What you need to know

1. A budget to rebuild the foundations?

£40 billion of new tax rises, £74 billion of spending increases, and a 5.6% increase in spending for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, promised a budget that would deliver change and the first Labour budget for 14 years certainly took a different approach to public spending from the previous Conservative government.

Reeves argued Labour had been given a difficult inheritance, with a £22 billion blackhole in government finances, low growth and public services in dire need of investment.

She said this budget would take the difficult decisions to restore economic and fiscal responsibility.

Those choices will see employers’ national insurance contributions increase by 1.2%, stamp duty on second homes has gone up 2% and VAT on private school fees will be coming into force.

The Treasury will use that extra tax revenue, to fund at least a 1.7% increase in departmental spending in real terms, with the MoJ seeing £1.2 billion invested into delivering more prison places.

The UK government will also spend over £12 billion compensating victims of the infected blood scandal and the Post Office Horizon scandal.

While positive, some analysts have noted that after 2025/26, public spending will only increase by 1.3% a year which may require departmental spending cuts later down the line.

The budget also mentioned Labour’s upcoming industrial strategy that is underpinning its mission of the highest sustained growth in the G7.

The strategy is currently undergoing a consultation and will be published next spring, alongside the comprehensive spending review and the government’s trade strategy.

We look forward to engaging with all three over the next few months.

We welcomed the additional funding for the MoJ in this budget, but highlighted there was no mention of civil or criminal legal aid and limited funding going to address the backlogs across the courts.

We are calling for the lord chancellor to take a spend-to-save approach to the justice system and save the public money by funding justice properly.

2. Renters' Rights Bill begins scrutiny stage

After four evidence sessions last week, the Renters’ Rights Bill Committee started line-by-line scrutiny of the bill.

The committee considered clauses 1 to 83, looking at a range of provisions including grounds for possession, local authority enforcement powers, rental bidding, and funding for the courts.

MPs from all parties tabled amendments to the bill, which aim to trigger a debate in the committee and ultimately tweak the text of the bill.

We provided written evidence to the committee, suggesting amendments to strengthen the evidence needs to invoke grounds 1 and 1A for possession and to improve resourcing and funding for the courts.

The Liberal Democrat spokesperson Gideon Amos tabled these amendments and quoted our briefing in his remarks.

His amendment 68 would require the evidence to be provided by landlords on grounds 1 and 1A, in the case of occupying the home or selling the property, to be clearly stated in the bill, so that it is clear what evidence needs to be provided and the test for possession is clearly stated.

The amendment sets out the need for a statement of truth and suggests that a letter of engagement from a solicitor in the sale of a property is the kind of evidence that should be in the bill.

During a bill committee, it is normal for all non-government amendments to be rejected.

Amos’s amendment was ultimately withdrawn, with the minister noting that while the amendment to the bill has an honourable intention, “the amendment would also place an additional burden on courts, which would need to set up new processes to deal with the evidence, taking time away from progressing possession claims.”

Also of note was an amendment to put a consultation into the bill to see how the tribunal system is coping with following the enactment of the bill.

While this was ultimately withdrawn, it meant that the issues of court backlogs and the crisis in housing legal aid was raised with government.

The minister responded to the amendment by noting that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are working closely with colleagues in the MoJ and HM Courts and Tribunals Service to make sure that the justice system is prepared for the bill’s implementation, which will come at a single point at the point of commencement.

Committee stage continues next week and the committee will consider the rest of the bill.

3. Business and trade questions

Support for high street businesses and the industrial strategy were key topics in this week’s business and trade questions.

Legally qualified Labour MP Abtisam Mohammed asked the minister for further information on his discussions with the Cabinet on support for small businesses operating in the UK’s towns and cities.

Gareth Thomas, the minister for services, small business and exports reassured the house that the government was committed to revitalising the high street through stamping out late payments, reforming the apprenticeship levy and, as announced in the budget, reforming business rates.

Several MPs also asked for an update on the industrial strategy.

The minister for industry Sarah Jones outlined that “the difference between a Labour government and a Conservative government is that we believe that growth needs to be felt in our communities, not just measured on a spreadsheet.”

She added that the industrial strategy needs to be designed and implemented in lockstep with local leaders, mayors and devolved leaders across the country, alongside the government’s wider plans for housing and skills.

The industrial strategy green paper has been published, and we will be responding to the consultation launched in October.

Coming up

We are working closely with MPs and peers to influence a number of bills before Parliament:

• Arbitration Bill will have its third reading in the Lords on 6 November
• Employment Rights Bill will have its committee stage in the Commons on 26 November
• Product Regulation and Metrology Bill will have its committee stage in the Lords on 20 November
• Renters' Rights Bill began its committee stage in the Commons on 22 October