Goldsmith PaulLEGAL SERVICES AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (Minister of Justice): I present a legislative statement on the Legal Services Amendment Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): The legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: I move That the Legal Services Amendment Bill be now read a first time.The Government's priority for this term includes restoring law and order enforcing real consequences for committing crime and improving the quality of Government spending. Under the previous Government's approach where the only clearly articulated target in the justice sector was a 30 percent reduction in the prison population—irrespective of what is happening in our communities and on our streets—we saw an alarming increase in violent crime. Offenders were often prioritised ahead of victims. Between 2018 and 2023 ram raids went up by 290 percent; robberies 62 percent; victims of reported retail crime 110 percent; family harm investigations 34 percent; and acts intended to cause harm 40 percent. Kiwis feel less safe than they did six years ago and the message from the community has been clear: public safety needs to be at the heart of the criminal justice system. That means ensuring real consequences for crime.The incoming Government also has inherited budget deficits a substantially higher debt burden and a subsequent need to ensure our limited resources including in the justice sector are used well. In line with these priorities we've committed to defunding section 27 reports within our first 100 days of office. Section 27 of the Sentencing Act 2002 allows any offender to request that the court hear from someone chosen by the offender to speak about their background and related matters. The matters set out under section 27 include the offender's personal family whānau community and cultural background how support from the family final or community may help prevent further offending and how the offender's background family whānau or community support may be relevant for possible sentences.When this provision was introduced more than 20 years ago it was intended that a person who knows the offender and their background would speak directly to the court. However in recent years—noticeably since 2018—a cottage industry of section 27 report writers has evolved funded by the legal aid scheme. Contrary to what was envisaged when 27 was introduced these reports generally are prepared by a person not known to the offender or their background prior to the court proceedings. Some of these services are promoted with reference to the size of the sentencing discount that prospective clients can expect. The cost of all this to the taxpayer has grown from $40000 in 2017 to approximately $7.5 million in the past financial year.At a time when victims of crime have grown increasingly disenchanted with the justice system and its ability to prioritise their needs this ever-increasing expenditure cannot be justified. Legislative change is needed to deliver on our commitment because decisions about legal aid funding for specialist reports are made by an independent Legal Services Commissioner. A proposed minor amendment to the Legal Services Act 2011 will exempt section 27 reports from the range of legal aid disbursements that can be made without in any way limiting the independence of the commissioner with regard to the wider legal aid scheme.Let me be clear: this bill does not prevent background information about an offender that is relevant to sentencing from being provided to the court. This information will continue to be available from a range of sources such as the offender calling on a person to address the court orally on section 27 matters; the offender's lawyer's submissions; pre-sentence reports prepared by Corrections; letters of support from family and friends; persons supporting the offender through a mentoring rehabilitation or counselling programme; and other reports that may be appropriate such as alcohol and drug assessments. Just as importantly judges will still need to adhere to the purposes and principles of sentencing which require them to take into account an offender's background in imposing a sentence.The proposed law change will commence two weeks after receiving Royal assent. This will allow a reasonable time frame for the legal profession to transition to the change. During this period legal aid claims for section 27 reports will only be paid if the lawyer making the claim has already obtained the commissioner's approval to incur the cost.As the bill makes discrete amendments to one Act and is relatively short in size it will be progressed under urgency through the House to allow parliamentary time to be freed up for more complex legislation to come. The progression under urgency—if the House agrees—will allow savings within the legal aid funding to be realised sooner. The Government wants to see the savings made from ceasing legal aid funding for section 27 reports used to improve services for victims of crime over the next 12 months. The financial impacts of this law change will be closely monitored so that informed decisions can be made about how and when this will happen. Announcements will be made in due course.The bill fulfils the Government's commitment to defund section 27 reports and it is the first of many planned changes to sentencing policy with the ultimate goal of improving public confidence in the justice system. I commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Teanau Tuiono): The question is that the motion be agreed to.