South Swindon Conservative MP Robert Buckland said: “I have regularly visited the Wiltshire Law Centre as the constituency MP for South Swindon and am acutely aware of the challenges they have faced.

“As a criminal legal aid barrister for many years before I became South Swindon MP, I have been a strong supporter of the system. Labour’s dramatic cuts to legal aid budgets in the late 1990s and early 2000s necessitated LASPO 2012, which tackled areas such as private family law which did not merit legal aid funding.

“Access to justice is a fundamental pillar of society which is why we spent £1.6 billion - a sixth of my department’s total budget - on legal aid last year.

“We are investing up to £5 million in innovative technologies to help people access the support they need.

“My budget will increase by five per cent in real terms next year, with £55 million specifically allocated to ensure the criminal justice system can respond to the increase in demand from the 20,000 additional police officers we are recruiting.”

A review of the changes to legal aid under LASPO 2012 concluded in February.

The subsequent Legal Support Action plan proposes to review legal aid entitlement and eligibility criteria, invest money in alternative forms of legal support including the lawtech sector, and double the funding to £3m for the Litigants in Person Support Strategy, which helps individuals representing themselves in court, among other plans.