Civil legal aid review could be too late

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the review, announced last week, will ‘explore options for improving the sustainability of the legal aid system for people facing civil and family legal issues’. It will commission an external economic analysis of the market and will consider how justice systems work in comparable countries.

The final report is not due to be published until 2024.

Justice minister Lord Bellamy KC said the review would provide a ‘wealth of evidence’ on how services are provided and the ‘issues facing the market’.

However, Bar Council chair Nick Vineall KC (pictured) said: ‘Any changes are not likely to take place until 2025 at the earliest.

‘That delay creates a threat in itself. Our solicitor colleagues who provide the critical first line of advice are increasingly leaving the legal aid market altogether because present levels of remuneration are simply unsustainable.

‘Unless interim measures are put in place to shore up existing provision there will be no system left by 2025. Urgent action is needed now to prevent the complete collapse of the system and we urge the government to consider short-term interim measures on fees and scope.’

Law Society president Lubna Shuja said: ‘Law Society analysis suggests that the number of providers starting legal aid work could drop by a third by 2025, leaving many without access to a lawyer when they desperately need one.

‘We urgently call on the UK government to invest immediately in civil legal aid to shore up access to justice for those in need while the review—which is expected to last two years—takes place.’

Shuja said the number of legal aid firms has nearly halved in the past decade, ‘while the number of people struggling to represent themselves in the family courts has trebled and court backlogs are ever increasing.

‘The last time fees were increased was in 1996, over 25 years ago. On top of this, the government imposed a further 10% fee-cut in 2011. This represents a real-terms cut of 49.4% in fees to 2022.’