Legal Aid: New contract, new government … but will anything change?
A short update from the Legal Aid Committee as we are in a bit of a limbo at the moment!
Legal aid providers have a new civil legal aid contract, which started on 1 September 2024. Although there is a new contract, largely the terms and specification are the same as before, and any changes are helpful to practitioners, eg around supervision standards. Please refer to the August legal aid newsletter for a summary of the changes.
We hope everyone obtained their new contracts in good time as we were made aware of concerns about late verification. If you have any feedback about the process of applying for a contract, do email the committee on legalaid@resolution.org.uk and we will pass it on to the Ministry of Justice to inform future contract bids.
We will be interested to see whether the number of providers has remained static, increased or reduced. We will provide this information as soon as we have it, and we will provide our commentary on the numbers of contracts awarded and what it means for provision.
Of course, the big question is whether there will be any additional funds for legal aid. We have a new government but as we know, they have many priorities. So much is on hold at the moment, including the Review of Civil Legal Aid, the Means Test Review and the Early Advice pilot, which were already very delayed by the Conservative government.
Resolution has written to Heidi Alexander, the Minister of State at the MoJ, and Lord Ponsonby, who has responsibility for Family Justice, expressing our willingness to meet and discuss issues regarding legal aid (and family justice) as soon as possible. We had an early reply to our letter and hope for a meeting without delay. It’s essential we ensure that the government understands the desperate need for engagement and action on many issues, but principally – from the Legal Aid Committee’s perspective – legal aid and early legal advice.
Lest anyone is unsure why we need change, the Law Society has just published the report it commissioned from Frontier Economics on the sustainability of civil legal aid (the report is dated 17 September 2024). The report is succinct and makes its point simply – investment must be made into civil legal aid to ensure that there are lawyers able to provide it, thereby securing access to justice. The report highlights that, over the last five years, the number of civil legal aid providers has reduced by 19%. It goes on to say ‘research finds that legal aid work is loss-making for the majority of providers that we have engaged with’.
The report calls for:
- an immediate, significant increase in civil legal aid rates to begin to address the shortfalls in funding
- a comprehensive review of fee rates across all areas of civil legal aid to be carried out as soon as possible to inform fee-setting going forward. This should be repeated at regular intervals in the future using transparent methodologies grounded in clear economic principles
- consideration to be given to other areas which may benefit from some improvement
The report makes clear that ‘Reforming legal aid can yield savings for the justice system, healthcare system, social care system, and more. The value of these potential benefits is significant.’
So, as a new term of Parliament and a new government get to work, the Legal Aid Committee is ready to engage, discuss and press for change for civil legal aid to ensure it is not only sustainable but thriving for many years to come.