A recent comprehensive review of legal aid has highlighted how the system needs to become more effective and efficient, says David Lammy

In May of this year I launched the fundamental legal aid review. Work is now well advanced and many leading lawyers and other stakeholders have already fed in their views. There is a shared sense that now is the time to find a more sustainable solution that meets the needs of practitioners, clients and taxpayers.

While many leading figures in the profession have been positive about the review, others still see the many changes we have made to legal aid in recent years as an attack on the system itself. I would like to reassure all lawyers that legal aid will remain a core component of our legal system.


I have been travelling around the country holding a series of meetings with legal aid solicitors and barristers to discuss what many clearly perceive as a crisis in the system. Many lawyers see the government programme as simply consisting of short-term aims, made worse by cumbersome contracts and frequent changes of policies and procedures.


Our three-year funding deal with the Treasury, linked to inflation, proves that this is not about cuts. In the last year, three of the changes we have introduced have provided increases in rates of remuneration for lawyers working in family, housing and police stations. And although we will continue to make tough decisions where we have to, it remains the case that the legal aid system in England and Wales is among the most generously funded in the world.


What makes the review genuinely fundamental is that we are starting to bring out the relationship between legal aid and other parts of government. High on the government agenda is reform of the criminal justice system and bringing more offenders to justice. While this brings better outcomes for wider society, it is clearly putting pressure on criminal legal aid. We need a new longer-term and systemic approach to address these challenges.


Therefore, a core part of our work is to address the underlying justice processes that cause a great deal of waste. This is particularly true in criminal law, but we also see examples in public law children cases. We can streamline many judicial processes without jeopardising fundamental rights.


There are also improvements to be made on the civil justice side. For example, poor performance by public bodies creates problems for citizens that legal aid has to fund.


We should be able to take a step back and address these problems at source, rather than necessarily resolving each individual case one by one in the courts.


This government is committed to delivering high-quality services for all citizens. And for the poorest, publicly funded general and legal advice services provide a means for upholding their rights and enforcing the responsibilities of others. This is a vital underpinning that can make a real difference to their lives.


Research shows there is a lot of unmet need for advice services, but we also see patchy outcomes in those cases we do fund. The review is our opportunity to think more creatively about how to improve outcomes for clients and help more people within our budget.


In an increasingly complex and interdependent world, we need to be able to provide high-quality advice to those who would not otherwise be able to afford it.


Therefore, the government is looking to build a modern, transparent and trusting relationship with sustainable suppliers who can clearly demonstrate the quality and value for money we need. This is the best way of securing the long-term future of legal aid and ensuring we continue to attract and retain the most promising lawyers of the next generation.


David Lammy is the minister for legal aid in the Department for Constitutional Affairs