COMMONS COMMITTEE: says government proposals are 'hurried' and doubts savings claim

Immigration practitioners this week backed calls from the Constitutional Affairs select committee for a moratorium on changes to legal aid funding in asylum cases until the government can come up with 'sensible' proposals.

Reporting on the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) consultation on reforming legal aid in immigration and asylum cases - which controversially would allow only five hours of advice from a solicitor - the committee said the proposals appeared to have been 'hurried' and argued that there was little evidence that they would result in the savings the government had suggested.

It also slated the DCA for failing to take into account Home Secretary David Blunkett's recent announcement that there would be an amnesty on 15,000 asylum seekers when it produced an 'unhelpfully vague' memorandum outlining amended proposals last week.

The memorandum mooted financial thresholds rather than caps on time that could be extended by the Legal Services Commission in 'genuine and complex' cases, and suggested that better-performing firms could be given devolved powers.

The committee said that it was 'entirely regrettable' that the DCA had stalled on providing the memorandum as it was unable to quiz witnesses on what cost effect Mr Blunkett's announcement would have.

It called for a halt to changes until the government could produce 'sensible and detailed' proposals, although attempts to improve quality through enhanced accreditation should go ahead without delay.

Judith Farbey, executive member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA), described the report as 'thorough and well reasoned' and called on the government to consult stakeholders on the issues it raised.

Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva urged the government to listen to the committee's concerns.

She welcomed its backing for the Society's compulsory accreditation scheme, arguing that 'any future limits on advice must not undermine quality'.

A DCA spokeswoman said it was carefully considering the recommendations.

'We are already working closely with the Home Office and are looking urgently at ways in which the quality and process of initial asylum decisions can be further improved, so that legal aid is spent to the best effect,' she added.

Paula Rohan