Family cuts “undermine justice”
Date: 30 October 2009
Issue: Vol 159, Issue 7391
Categories: News, Family, Legal aid
Family lawyers have voiced concern at a new “uneconomic” fixed fee structure for family legal aid work.
The government published the long-anticipated results of its consultation, Family Legal Aid Funding from 2010, this week, setting out the rates for fixed fees that will replace hourly rates for family legal aid work next October. Barristers and solicitor advocates will be paid the same rates under the scheme.
The Ministry of Justice and Legal Services Commission first consulted on the proposals in December 2008.
The figures represent a 40% cut to hourly rates that have remained static for the last 10 years, according to family lawyers’ association Resolution.
David Emmerson, chairman of Resolution’s legal aid committee, says: “Faced with this uneconomic scenario there is a real danger that firms will walk away from legal aid work, further undermining access to justice. We strongly urge the government to reconsider the fees for private law cases before they come into effect in October 2010.”
Resolution estimates that for a simple child contact case taking around 14 hours a legal aid firm would currently receive £960 on the basis of the hourly rate. The new fixed fee would be £471—a cut of more than 50%. A legal aid firm managing a straightforward divorce finance case which goes to full hearing would be paid £2,106 at present, but £1,299 under the new fixed fee rate.
Lucy Theis QC, chairman of the Family Law Bar Association (FLBA) acknowledges there had been “some limited recognition of complexity in cases”, but says it was “a matter of regret” that the government had refused further time for representative groups to study the changes. “The FLBA remains concerned that these changes will drive experienced practitioners away from this work, at a time when child protection cases are increasing.
“Those cases involving allegations of domestic violence, private law disputes and financial cases will simply be uneconomic to undertake,” she says.
The Association of Lawyers for Children (ALC) admits to having some concerns but broadly welcomed the proposals, saying that “the scheme now proposed is immeasurably better, fairer and more practice-reflective than that originally devised”.
Share this page
