Member

My final point, which has not been mentioned yet, concerns the financial cost of implementing Clause 113. Can the Minister tell the House what this will cost? This is important because there are so many urgent needs for funding in our legal system. The Government cannot afford to pay for more sitting days in the Crown Court, so rape trials are being listed for 2029. This is outrageous. Because there is no money available, courts up and down the country are in a state of disrepair, with some judges conducting hearings in courtrooms where the roofs are leaking rainwater into buckets. The legal aid system has been drastically reduced in scope—legal aid lawyers are not properly paid. The Government have not yet brought forward the much-needed Hillsborough legislation to protect victims of major tragic incidents because the Lord Chancellor has made it clear that she does not have the funding to pay for lawyers to represent those victims at inquiries.