Ministry of Justice Announces Legal Aid Funding Reforms
The Ministry of Justice reports that they have published a set
of reforms that aim to rebalance the legal aid budget to ensure
that the £2.1 billion currently spent every year goes as far as
possible in favour of civil help for those who need it most.
The reforms are outlined within the government's response to the
consultation on legal aid funding reform proposals which are
designed to help sustain the legal aid budget over the next
spending review period, and ensure that we focus criminal legal aid
spending effectively.
The reforms intend to make better use of the criminal legal aid
budget and include changes that rationalise payment structures.
The reforms include:
- Containing the cost of legal aid representation at police
stations by reducing police station fees in the most expensive and
oversubscribed areas.
- Ending the current fee arrangements that remunerate litigators
for preparation for committal hearings. The change will see all
working on Committals combined into one fixed fee which will be
paid out of the Litigator Graduate Fee Scheme.
- Ending the anomaly by which practitioners in criminal cases
receive a fee for file reviews which does not apply in civil cases.
This would see an end to payments for criminal file reviews.
It is estimated that approximately £23 million in savings will
be made through the reforms to police station fees, changes to
committal fees and the removal of the file review payments over the
course of 2010/11.
In addition to these reforms, the Ministry of Justice will
pursue a second round consultation to explore reforms to Crown
Court advocates fees. On average, advocates acting for the
prosecution receive 18% less pay than if they were acting for the
defence, which could be creating an incentive for barristers to
favour defence work over prosecution work.
A separate response to the proposals on experts' fees will be
published in January.
Legal Aid Minister, Willy Bach said:
'At a time when we are faced with tougher economic conditions we
do have to make some hard decisions which aren't going to be
popular with everyone. However it's important that we remember that
central to these changes is a commitment to do all we can to ensure
that legal aid is prioritised effectively so that more people are
able to access it to resolve their legal problems, particularly in
the current climate when more people are struggling with debt,
housing and employment problems.'
'The UK has one of the most generous legal aid systems in the
world and one that the government is proud of. It is even more
important now that public money is managed efficiently and
effectively and we are committed to ensuring the legal aid budget
delivers best value for taxpayers money.'