In his first interview as the new justice secretary, David Gauke would not make any commitment to increasing spending on civil legal aid. He told The Times that while he was willing to look at concerns around access to justice he wanted to first see ‘where the legal aid review takes us’, adding: ‘I don't want to make commitments or even hint at commitments at this stage, before I can be confident as to what is likely to happen’ (Frances Gibb, ‘David Gauke: I will champion UK’s legal place’, The Times, 18 January 2018).

Gauke is joined by two other new ministers at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Lucy Frazer QC and Rory Stewart. They will join Phillip Lee and the MoJ’s spokesman in the Lords, Lord Keen, who both continue in their posts.

Frazer takes over the legal aid brief from Dominic Raab, who has been moved to the role of housing minister at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (formerly the Department for Communities and Local Government). Frazer was a commercial barrister before being elected to parliament in 2015. She took silk five years ago at the relatively young age of 40.

Carol Storer, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, welcomed the new ministers, saying she hopes they ‘will be given the time to tackle the enormous range of problems’ the department faces. She believes ‘civil and criminal defence legal aid need careful thought to ensure that those who need it can receive proper assistance and representation’ and warned that ‘the sustainability of the provider base is becoming even more of a concern. Coupled with the difficulties people face using the court system, these are just a small part of the MoJ’s crisis management portfolio’.