The Law society Gazette report that the timetable for the government’s major review of the civil legal aid system will not be brought forward.
LAPG co-chairs Nicola Mackintosh and Jenny Beck said: ‘Civil legal aid fees have not increased in 30 years, and indeed have been cut in this time. Year on year, legal aid lawyers are expected to deliver their expert services to vulnerable clients on fees that continuously fall due to inflation. Many have simply given up. Those who remain are exhausted, cannot recruit new staff and struggle to retain their existing staff. Current providers are so committed to the principle of access to justice that they find ways to subsidise loss-making legal aid work and they carry out work for free to provide the services their clients need.
‘The action needed to ensure that the civil legal aid scheme is effective and accessible to those who need it is clear and indisputable. There are no further efficiencies to be made to a service that has been cut to the bone over three decades.’
The full article can be found here: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/ministers-refuse-to-budge-on-civil-legal-aid-timetable/5114740.article?utm_source=gazette_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Raab+faces+judicial+review+%7c+Junior+sues+old+firm+for+hacking+WhatsApp+%7c+Family+Mediation+Week_01%2f11%2f2023