Legal aid budget to be slashed by half a billion
Friday 16 July 2010 by Catherine Baksi
Justice secretary Ken Clarke is expected to submit plans to the Treasury today that will slash the £2.1bn legal aid budget by a quarter.
The huge cut of half a billion pounds is a response to chancellor George Osborne’s demands for sweeping cuts to be made across Whitehall departments. Most departments have been told to prepare plans for cuts of up to 25% during this parliament, with further cuts of 40% to be implemented in future.
Departments are understood to be due to submit their opening bids to the Treasury today.
Law Society head of legal aid Richard Miller said: ‘Cuts on this scale are impractical.’
He said it would be more effective to tackle the problems that drive demand from the legal aid scheme, such as lengthy prosecutions.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said the figure of half a billion pounds was 'purely speculative'.
Comments
Good news for the tax
Good news for the tax payer/bad news for the profits of the Partners in legal aid firms.
Anticipated reductions to the legal aid budget
Few partners in law firms do legal aid for the profits. The profitability of law firms increases when they stop doing legal aid work. Between the legal aid spend and the money received by lawyers (which is now about a quarter of the charging rate of privately paying clients if not less) there is little profit but thousands of people who need legal advice and assistance. What is the point of the rule of law if people cannot access justice. Our society is mature enough to realise that it is appropriate for people to receive public funds for issues such as contact to their children and protection from violence. The social impact of reducing access to justice even further will be detrimental to our society.
It's bad news for the
It's bad news for the taxpayer as quality of advice will reduce...... law firms with legal aid do not make much profit..........more firms will drop out,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,these measures will be counter productive!!
time to swim with the fish
Here we go again, more complaints from solicitors. Having 'milked' the system for years, billing for everthing....even for going to the toilet...... I can understand why they are now unhappy.
Legal Aid Cuts
Not all Solicitors ought to be tarred with the same brush. Legal Aid lawyers are in general amongst the most hard-working, often dealing with the most difficult clients imaginable for very poor pay.
It is a flagrant misconception of the general public that we are correctly remunerated for the work that we do, the disparity between rates of pay for legal aid and private commercial lawyers is huge (though some would argue rightly so). People just don't realise, or appreciate the effort and hard work that Legal Aid lawyers put in to achieve the best possible outcome for their clients.
These cuts are ridiculous, and the most needy, who rely on the availability of legal aid for access to justice, are not going to get the help they need and deserve.
As a one-year qualified solicitor I am extremely gutted that my firm has been unsuccessful in the LSC's recent tendering fiasco; we are now unable to take on any new family or housing work after 13th October of this year, which may lead to the firm (2 separate offices) having to close FORCIBLY. I joined my firm as a trainee, eager to make a difference to peoples' lives...not just to make money (if that was the case I'd have applied to commercial firms). 'For what?' I ask myself now as I face the prospect of having to look upon the wafer-thin jobs market for my next source of employment.
As firms start to close (and this is a distinct reality) the less jobs there will be to go around, and therefore the time and money I spent at University may end up accounting for very little.
People are going to lose jobs, not just solicitors but administration and secretarial staff, some of whom have been loyal to their employers for decades. These Legal Aid cuts affect the general public as a whole, not just solicitors. People outside of the legal profession need to know the bigger picture...some solicitors like myself are competent and genuine people with no desire to cheat people out of money (we can't anyway, we are paid and audited by the Government effectively).
Perhaps I'm bitter at the prospect at losing out. Perhaps if I was a nurse, a doctor, or a Police Officer, people would be more understanding and sympathetic at us losing our jobs. But of course, solicitors are just greedy aren't they, with our £51.05 per hour legal help rates.
Thank you Legal Services Commission.
Legal Aid has been a waste of space for years
Rates of pay in legal aid have been static for a quarter of a century. In the mid 1980's rates of pay were about two thirds of the provincial town private client charging rate; that same rate is getting on for four times higher than the hourly rate of legal aid which is itself appalling enough.
However, when one considers the awful form filling, and having to deal with the LSC, ( the ridiculous and petty decisions, the "we can do as we like because we are the LSC" style of management, the abuse of a dominant position, the unwelcome and intrusive audits and fee clawbacks because the client's proof of means was a day late,etc) then the real mystery is why anyone of full mental capacity would want to do legal aid work at all unless one is wedded to the idea of working at a loss for the greater good of society. I would wish to see the day when all lawyers turn their backs on the legal aid system until it is as well funded as other essential public services, but with so many decent, hard working lawyers struggling to hit unachievable costs targets and willing to survive on the scraps from the Treasury table I fear that day will never come.
I concur....
I concur with the two comments posted above my comment, they wrap up my feelings so succiently. I need not say anymore.
Waste of space
Yes I am wedded to working for the greater good of society. I firmly believe in the rule of law and that everyone should be treated equally. Where the State prosecutes the defendant should be represented by a trained lawyer. Here's some news for you - not everyone who is arrested in guilty of an offence. If it was you or your family would you be happy to go through the police station on your own? How about conducting your own trial against a qualified lawyer in court? No?