Family lawyers have given a
cautious welcome to the government’s legal aid review but called for more to be
done to reverse the damage of the cuts.
Since LASPO (the Legal Aid,
Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012) came into force in April 2013,
cutting £350m from legal aid funding each year from 2013 as well as removing legal
aid from private family law. There has been a steep rise in the number of
litigants in person since with consequential delays in the family courts.
The post-implementation review of
LASPO, published this week by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) pledges a further
£8m towards technological solutions and £3m to help litigants in person. It
highlights the importance of early intervention to nip problems in the bud
before they spiral, and commits to extending legal aid to special guardianship
orders in private family law and reviewing the legal aid means test.
Jo Edwards, chair of family
lawyers’ group Resolution’s Family Law Group, said she welcomed certain aspects
of the review but warned that the government’s commitments have to be backed up
by meaningful funding.
‘Without legal advice, couples and
individuals are less likely to resolve matters away from the court, and more
likely to face lengthy delays within a creaking court system,’ she said.
‘If government is serious about
reducing conflict and stress for couples and families in dispute, it needs to
go further and ensure that everyone who needs it has access to early legal
advice, to enable them to make informed choices about their options. These
choices have a fundamental long-term impact on families and children, and it is
vital that people are properly supported—not just for those individuals, but
for society as a whole.’
Family law solicitor and NLJ
columnist David Burrows said the review ‘may be far too little, but it is never
too late.
‘One of the simplest ways to help
and to save money, is to recognise that by funding cases on matrimonial
property the government is providing a legal aid loan at an excellent rate of
interest for the tax-payer. And the on-cost: joined up thinking proposedrecently in NLJ by Sir Geoffrey Bindman is basic to legal aid. These two
simple ways of saving must be understood and then addressed by the Lord
Chancellor.’
