Westminster update: Legal Aid Agency cyber-attack

Legal Aid Agency data breach

We have called on the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) to get a grip on the situation after a significant data breach.

The incident demonstrates the need for sustained investment to bring the LAA’s IT system up to date and ensure the public have continued trust in the justice system.

Minister highlights our warnings about LAA cyber-attack

The minister for courts and legal services Sarah Sackman KC called the cyber-attack against the LAA “unacceptable”.

Sackman criticised the previous government for ignoring calls to invest in additional security measures.

She highlighted our warning directly, noting: “in 2023, the Law Society called on the government to urgently invest in the Legal Aid Agency digital system, saying that the system was ‘too fragile to cope’”.

In March 2024, we pointed to the agency’s “antiquated IT systems” as “evidence of the long-term neglect of our justice system”.

The minister also outlined the government’s immediate efforts following the attack, including taking some LAA systems offline and alerting the Information Commissioner.

In response to the statement, the shadow minister Kieran Mullan questioned why the house, providers and representative bodies had not been informed of the breach when it was initially discovered in late April.

Sackman replied that the reason for not informing the house and providers immediately is the government was not initially aware of the full extent of the breach and therefore waited.

Sackman also noted: “Legal aid providers have been kept fully informed along the way, as have our professional bodies, such as the Law Society and the Bar Council, many of which are legal aid providers.

"That is because we need all of them, working in a robust system, to deliver the justice and legal aid that people so sorely need.”

The chair of the Justice Select Committee Andy Slaughter called the incident “a wake-up call”.

Slaughter asked about the number of affected providers, as well as the steps the government is taking to recover stolen data.

Sackman did not give a number in response but noted: “we are talking about those who have applied for or been in receipt of legal aid since 2010 and all the legal providers in this country that have had legal aid contracts with the government, one gets a sense of the scale of the exposure. It is a very serious breach indeed.”

The Liberal Democrat spokesperson for justice, Josh Babarinde, mirrored Sackman’s assertion on impact that neglect has had on the integrity of the system.

Babarinde noted: “The previous government should hang their heads in shame for ignoring the Law Society’s 2023 calls to address those vulnerabilities when they had the chance”.

Sentencing review published

The lord chancellor announced the government’s principled response to the sentencing review led by David Gauke.

The lord chancellor began by mentioning the context of the review, noting the previous government called an election as a result of the prisons estate being on the brink of collapse.

She noted that she was grateful for the recommendations made David Gauke.

She outlined the government’s support for several recommendations, including the central recommendation of a three-part “earned progression model” for sentencing.

Modelled on a similar system in Texas, a prisoner’s release date will be dependent on their behaviour.

All offenders on standard determinate sentences will spend at least one-third of their sentence behind bars and have to earn their release at this point or face longer behind bars for bad behaviour.

Those serving standard determinate sentences for more serious offences will serve at least half in prison.

The government expects that most offenders on these sentences to be released between 33% and 50%.

However, there is no upper limit for the worst behaved offenders.

Additionally, while the review recommended those on a maximum sentence spending 50% and 67% of time served for good behaviour, the government has decided not to impose these.

Certain crimes, including terrorism, will not be captured in this measure.

The lord chancellor noted that when released, offenders will enter a new period of “intensive supervision”. This will see tens of thousands more offenders tagged and many more placed under home detention.

This also includes investment in the Probation Service by 45% by the final year of the spending review period.

The annual budget of around £1.6 billion today will rise by up to £700 million by 2028/29.

The lord chancellor also emphasised the need for stronger community punishment.

This includes greater use of curfews and exclusion zones, as well as more intensive supervision courts to tackle the root causes of crime, such as alcohol and drug abuse

In response, the shadow lord chancellor Robert Jenrick accused the lord chancellor of wanting criminals “terrorising the country”.

Jenrick emphasised that prison building should be the focus and where prison places are needed, the UK should follow Denmark’s example by striking deals with EU countries that have spare capacity.

The lord chancellor replied that she will not take prison building advice from a party that oversaw 500 additional places built in 14 years.

The lord chancellor has committed to introducing legislation to action these recommendations on an accelerated timeline.

UK-EU summit: youth mobility on the table

At their first bilateral summit since Brexit, UK and EU leaders set out a range of areas where they will seek to forge closer ties.

European Council president António Costa, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British prime minister Keir Starmer hailed the agreement as a historic landmark deal that opens a new chapter in the EU-UK relationship.

We have welcomed the outcomes of the summit, but consider this only the beginning of negotiations to thrash out the details of closer cooperation in areas like:

• trade
• youth mobility
• energy

Of the three most important elements for the legal sector – business mobility, mutual recognition of professional qualifications (MRPQ) and youth mobility – the prime minister’s announcement of a youth experience scheme was the most welcome outcome.

In a statement to the Commons, Starmer set out that we are now on a path towards a controlled youth experience scheme, “with firm caps on numbers and visa controls”.

If implemented, this will mirror the relationship we have with so many countries around the world and allow young people to travel, work and study in the EU and UK for a limited period of time.

We are pleased with this commitment and will continue to push for a scheme that allows lawyers under 35 to live and work for up to three years in the EU.

We are also reasserting our calls for improvements to wider business mobility and ensuring that English solicitors who wish to requalify in the law of an EU member state can do so through MRPQ.

Mental Health Bill begins Commons debates

Members debated the mechanism for under 16s to have a say in the appointment of a nominated person during mental health treatment during the Mental Health Bill’s second reading in the Commons. 

Dr Ben Spencer (Conservative) expressed concerns about this provision.

He highlighted the potential issues particularly where the chosen person does not have parental responsibility.

Dr Spencer suggested this could lead to situations where a young person might select someone who is not their parent or guardian, which could complicate their care and support.

He proposed that for those under 16, the nominated person should ideally have parental responsibility unless there is a compelling reason otherwise.

Shockat Adam (independent) proposed an alternative view to Dr Spencer which mirrors our view.

Adam noted: “We are seeing a clear and worrying rise in mental health issues among children and teenagers, yet the bill does not fully guarantee them the same rights and safeguards as adults.

“There is still no statutory test for decision-making capacity for under-16s.”

Chris Webb (Labour) also urged the government to “introduce a statutory framework for assessing capacity in under-16s. Without one, their voices are too easily sidelined”.

Another significant area of debate during second reading surrounded provisions to detain individuals with autism or other learning disabilities.

Lauren Edwards (Labour) noted that she was “shocked to learn that under the Mental Health Act, autistic people and people with a learning disability can be detained in mental health hospitals indefinitely, just because they are autistic or have a learning disability”.

She welcomed the government’s efforts to close this gap.

Dr Spencer raised concerns about the potential for people to be detained under other provisions if the changes were not implemented carefully.

Jen Craft (Labour) also called for clear criteria and safeguards to make sure people with co-occurring mental health conditions are not misdiagnosed or left without appropriate care.

Gregory Stafford (Conservative) advocated for amendments, similar to those we advocated for, to allow authorised and qualified health professionals such as paramedics, approved mental health professionals or specialised nurses to carry out detentions and to move individuals under sections 2, 3 and 5 of the act.

He noted this “would relieve police officers of responsibilities that fall outside their core expertise while reducing the stigma and trauma associated with police-led interventions”.

Coming up

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

• Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will have its second reading in the Lords on 2 June
• Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will continue its committee stage in the Lords, which began on 20 May
• Crime and Policing Bill will have its report stage in the Commons, date to be confirmed
• Data (Access and Use) Bill will have its consideration of Commons amendments in the Lords on 2 June
• Employment Rights Bill will continue its committee stage in the Lords which began on 29 April
• Mental Health Bill will have its committee stage in the Commons on a date to be confirmed
• Planning and Infrastructure Bill will continue its committee stage in the Commons, which began on 24 April
• Renters Rights Bill moves to report stage in the Lords at a date to be confirmed
• Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will continue its report stage in the Commons on 13 June