BuzzFeed News is already aware of two people who have received prison sentences without representation in court – and given the underreporting of local court cases, the true figure is expected to be higher.

On Wednesday the Criminal Bar Association announced that participating barristers would be declining returned cases, in addition to any new work. These are cases that come up at the last minute where the instructed barrister is unavailable and an alternative is expected to step in if they are available.

The further action, which will start on 25 May, is likely to cause an even greater backlog in the courts. Barristers are hoping it will force the hand of the MoJ, which said in a statement that it was "surprised and disappointed with this escalation".

In the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, Labour's Richard Burgon said the unrepresented defendants report had only come to light as a result of "dogged reporting" by BuzzFeed News. He continued: "It highlights judges’ concerns about people representing themselves. … The obvious result of this is that some judges and prosecutors felt that those who appeared in court without a lawyer were more likely to be found guilty.

“The legal ​system should not be skewed towards wealthier people. Everybody who wants it should have access to proper legal representation if charged with a criminal offence. Justice should be blind. It should also not be based on the depth of people’s pockets. We now have criminal barristers forced to take coordinated action in refusing to take up legal aid work because of changes to the government’s funding scheme.”

The justice secretary David Gauke was questioned on access to justice by the Lords’ Constitution Committee on Wednesday. Lord Dunlop raised the issue of the report made public by BuzzFeed News.

Highlighting the “graphic comments from judges” about those without lawyers in criminal court, Dunlop asked Gauke: “What steps [are you] taking to improve access to justice for individuals and particularly those who come to court without proper legal representation?”

Gauke responded by saying it was “worth remembering” that in crown court “something like 99% of applicants for legal aid are successful, and that hasn’t changed as a consequence of the reforms that we’ve undertaken.”

The statistic, widely used by the MoJ to suggest that the proportion of people in court with legal aid has stayed the same, omits the fact that most people do not apply for legal aid if they are told they do not qualify. Almost all the people BuzzFeed News has encountered representing themselves in court since LASPO have never made a legal aid application because they were told they would fail the means test or that the area of law was no longer in scope.

Gauke also said that the review of LASPO, announced last year, would report by “the end of the year” despite earlier assurances by the department that it would be published in the spring, and then later, before summer recess.

A PM spokesperson said on Wednesday: "My understanding from the Ministry of Justice is that the freedom of information request was for a copy of the final report and that has been provided. ... If there are any more details I'd have to direct you to the MoJ but my understanding is they provided the report and that complied fully with the FOI request."

The MoJ has yet to respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment on the Information Commissioner complaint. On Tuesday evening, it claimed, wrongly, that the freedom of information request had been for the "final report".

In a statement to the Mirror on Wednesday, the department said the 36-page report – which it had previously said did not exist – was an early draft that had been edited down to six pages because it was too long and “didn’t meet the robust standards we have for research".