Estimates day: Ministry of Justice spending

There will be a debate on Monday 2^nd July in the Commons Chamber on the spending of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). This follows the publication of the 2018-19 Main Estimate on 19 April 2018. The subject for this debate was selected by the Backbench Business Committee as part of the new process for choosing subjects of Estimates Day debates that was instigated following the publication of the 2017-18 Supplementary Estimates in February 2018.

This debate pack provides an overview of MoJ spending and covers the following areas in detail:      

• Prisons and probation (HM Prisons and Probation Service)
• Courts (HM Courts and Tribunals Service)

It also contains a section on legal aid (the Legal Aid Agency).

The MoJ is usually around the 12^th largest government department in terms of its total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) on an annual basis. The MoJ’s budget from central government reduced each year between 2010/11 and 2016/17. The MoJ’s total DEL in 2016/17 was 29% lower in real terms than in 2010/11.