Lawyers’ groups have given a mixed
reaction to the long-awaited Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) post-implementation
review of the LASPO legal aid cuts.
Part 1 of LASPO (the Legal Aid, Sentencing
and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012) removed legal aid coverage for hundreds
of thousands of people across large areas of civil and family law in April
2013.
In its review, published this week, the
MoJ promises an extra £5m towards technology for accessing legal advice and £3m
over two years to help litigants in person, in its 500-page review, as well as
acknowledging the importance of early intervention. The overall legal aid
budget is £1.6bn.
Justice Secretary David Gauke said, in a
foreword to the review: ‘This review has highlighted that for too long legal
support has been focused solely on funding court disputes, with less emphasis
on how problems can be resolved earlier and avoid them escalating into more
problematic issues that require a court visit.
‘Our ambition is to catch problems before
this point.’
The review notes that fewer publicly
funded cases have been brought. In particular, volumes have declined more than
anticipated in social welfare law and family cases. The review also highlights
that the legal system is not capable of catering for those without legal
representation, and that advice deserts are leaving areas without legal aid
lawyers.
Law Society president Christina Blacklaws
said: ‘The proposals reflect a considerable number of the recommendations we
put forward.
‘The Ministry has accepted the case for
changes in relation to the legal aid means test, exceptional case funding and
early legal advice, and has committed to further work as to what those changes
should look like. There are also to be specific changes immediately in relation
to migrant children, special guardianship orders and the telephone gateway for
discrimination, debt and special educational needs. There is much to be
welcomed.’
However, Blacklaws called on the
government to ‘give urgent attention to amending the means test thresholds
because the current levels are preventing families in poverty from accessing
justice; and remuneration rates for solicitors undertaking this vital work must
be reviewed for civil as well as criminal work, to address the medium-term
viability of the system. As a first step, they should be uprated in line with
inflation ahead of further work to make the system sustainable’.
Richard Atkins QC, chair of the Bar
Council, said the review was a ‘wasted opportunity’ and described the extra £8m
offered by the MoJ as ‘but a drop in the ocean given the impact LASPO has had
on restricting individuals’ access to justice.
‘We fully understand that the MoJ is
constrained by budgetary limits, but this review provides clear evidence that
the Treasury must find a way to properly fund the justice system and reverse a
decade of cuts.’
