Clarke rules out further raid on legal aid pot
Kenneth Clarke today ruled out further legal aid cuts in addition to those already signalled, following the apparent u-turn earlier this week over his proposed sentencing reforms.
Speaking to the Law Society’s Junior Lawyers Division today, the justice secretary confirmed that ‘the flurry of nonsense’ in recent days over reform of sentencing ‘will not lead to more cuts in legal aid’.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman confirmed the pledge.
The £2bn legal aid budget is already facing cuts of £350 million, and it had been feared that the Ministry of Justice might look to plunder the pot afresh if it is unable to make the £130m planned savings from its sentencing reforms.
Chancery Lane’s head of legal aid policy Richard Miller said: ‘It’s reassuring to know that things are not going to be even worse than they already looked.
‘However, we still hope that the MoJ will work with us to find a way to make the savings they need without doing the damage that their original proposals would cause.’
Comments
Ken Clarke's Assurances
I have great respect for Richard Miller but am unable to share his feeling of being reassured by Ken Clarke's comments.
What, after all, is Clarke saying? "Let's sweeten the pill of massive cuts to legal aid by saying there won't be any more"?
Or is he desperately trying to stave off the prospect of another u-turn like the one in relation to NHS reform?
For a senior government minister to tell lawyers he's not going to make (additional) legal aid cuts is remarkable, nay unprecedented in the last ten years.
Sorry Richard, but I see no reason to feel reassured, none at all. If, and it's a big "if", KC is worried, press on with vigour and do not let him off the hook or even give him any cause to believe he has won even one small skirmish. If he's not worried, then ditto with gusto!
anti-dsicrimination casework
What may have gone unnoticed is the Government plan to cut all funding for anti-discrimination casework , currently used to fund a number of not-for-profit organisations through the EHRC.
The consultation closes tomorrow:
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/what_we_do/ehrc_reform.aspx