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Right to reply: Legal aid, judicial review, and the fight for justice

17 March 2017
Issue: 7738 / Categories: Legal News
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Response from Shaun McNally CBE, chief executive, Legal Aid Agency

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) welcomes the opportunity to respond to John Ford’s article “Legal aid, judicial review, and the fight for justice” (NLJ, 3 March 2017, p 7).

The LAA is an Executive Agency set up in 2013 to commission and administer legal aid in England and Wales. The responsibilities carried out by the LAA include making decisions on individual cases on my behalf. As the Director of Legal Aid Casework, I am a statutory office holder appointed under the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). Decisions are taken independently from the Lord Chancellor in accordance with the rules and regulations set down by LASPO and the legal aid legislation. It would not be appropriate for the LAA to comment on the specific case highlighted by Mr Ford (“Miss A”) while the litigation is ongoing.

The LAA must make all decisions within the statutory framework provided by Parliament. We have clear internal processes and structures in place to ensure that our handling of cases is independent, high-quality, and consistent. This includes appropriate escalation procedures to make sure that complicated or high profile matters are considered by more senior staff, and a comprehensive system of review and appeal mechanisms that individuals can use to challenge our initial decisions.

It is incumbent on us to ensure that taxpayers’ money is used for the purposes intended by Parliament. We have a robust testing and assurance regime to ensure that decisions are made in line with the prevailing rules and regulations. The National Audit Office provide a further level of scrutiny. It is a matter of public record that the LAA has received a clean audit opinion since its inception.

The LAA publishes a number of documents on its website setting out transparently how we carry out our functions and manage public money. For readers interested in our work, these can be found here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
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