Agency status means MoJ will take tighter control of £2.1bn legal aid budget
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is to become an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), and its chief executive, Carolyn Regan, has resigned.
Regan, who has headed the LSC for three and a half years, stood down last week after the announcement, which implements a recommendation of the Magee review of the delivery of legal aid. Carolyn Downs, a civil servant at the MoJ, has been appointed interim chief executive.
The change in status will see the Ministry taking tighter control of the £2.1bn legal aid budget. A Bill will be introduced to implement the changes as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Carol Storer, director, Legal Aid Practitioners Group, says the new regime means independence is the big worry. “You’ve got to have decision-making away from ministers and the arms of government. One of the benefits of the LSC is that it is an arms-length organisation.
“There will have to be legislation to effect this, which could take months or a year, and the issue of safeguarding independence will be addressed during that process. There are precedents across government, for example, housing benefit administration.
“There has been a groundswell of concern about the way the LSC was operating. Fundamentally, there is so much complexity in the scheme that it costs firms a lot just to comply with the contract and that money could be spent on helping clients. The LSC has sought to protect the public purse, but can work be done to make the scheme less complex?”
Law Society president, Bob Heslett, said: “Lack of clarity on responsibility for policy making between the LSC and the MoJ has been a significant problem area. We hope this will lead to sharper focus and a reduction in the number of new initiatives, for as in any profession and business, solicitors need to know the parameters within which they are to operate and so can plan ahead to the benefit of all.”
Paying tribute to Regan’s tenure, LSC chairman Sir Bill Callaghan said she had provided “inspirational leadership”.
“Agency status will ensure one policy voice and focus within the Ministry of Justice, streamline accountability for spend, while protecting individual funding decisions from ministerial involvement,” he said.
“Whatever the changes to the organisation, the underlying challenge remains the same – the effective management of legal aid within a fixed budget, while ensuring that the necessary help is available to those who need it most.”
