Civil Legal Aid report
The UK National Audit Office (NAO) has released figures on civil legal aid, following reforms and cuts in the area.
The primary aim of the Ministry of Justice cuts was to reduce expenditure on civil legal aid, and while the NAO found that this objective was met, they also raised questions about the wider cost impact that legal aid cuts will have on the justice system. The NAO is not convinced that the Ministry has met the goal of reducing unnecessary litigation and targeting legal aid at those who need it most.
The Ministry expectation was that removing legal aid funding for private family law matters would redirect people from the courts to mediation, however the NAO found that there has in fact been a 56% reduction in the numbers of applicants for mediation. Additionally, there has been a 30% increase in the number of family court cases in which neither party has legal representation. The NAO expects that this will create extra costs for the Ministry and wider government. The NAO estimates that the cuts to legal aid will result in costs of £3 million a year to the courts service and £400,000 a year to the Ministry of Justice. There will also be costs to the wider public sector if those denied legal aid suffer resulting damage to their health and well-being. Despite initial savings from the cuts, the NAO found that the reforms do not deliver value for money for the taxpayer.
The NAO considered that the Ministry did not have a good understanding of how people would respond to the changes or what costs might result from the reforms. The NAO recommended that the Ministry develop measures to conduct a more comprehensive evaluation of the impact of reforms.
Click here to read more about the report.
Criminal Legal Aid cuts
The UK Ministry of Justice has concluded its consultation ‘Transforming legal aid: crime duty contracts’, and as a result will be cutting duty contract solicitors by two-thirds. The Government had previously lost a judicial review case finding that the Ministry had failed to conduct a proper consultation. The Ministry reconsidered the 3,942 consultation responses from legal aid providers, professional bodies, and interest and advocacy groups; however the consultation still resulted in a reduction in the number of duty provider contracts from 1,600 to 527.
Click here to read the Ministry of Justice report.