Civil legal aid bills set to switch from courts to LSC

ASSESSMENT: charges up to 2,500 affected by new rules

The government is set to transfer responsibility for dealing with small civil legal aid bills from the courts to the Legal Services Commission (LSC), it has announced, in a bid to speed up the process and cut down on firms' costs.

Regulations coming into force on 1 July mean that bills of up to 2,500 - from both family and non-family cases - where there is no order for costs against the other side will have to be sent to the LSC for assessment instead of to the district judge.

The LSC currently deals with bills of 500 or less and some bills worth between 500-1,000, with the courts taking sole responsibility for those worth more than this.

The LSC will shortly produce a guidance pack on the changes and is recruiting and training staff to deal with them.

Lord Chancellor's Department minister Baroness Scotland said: 'The transfer of responsibility marks the Lord Chancellor's determination to modernise the justice system.

It will mean that bills can be submitted in a more simple format and paid more promptly.'

Legal Aid Practitioners Group director Richard Miller said one result could be that the LSC would take a tougher line on assessment, although he added that some protection would be afforded by the appeals procedure.

'We believe the move will cut the cost to firms of drawing up bills, and thus reduce the burden of bureaucracy on them,' he said.

'We therefore welcome this change.

However, it will be important to monitor the assessments to ensure that they are carried out fairly.'

Paula Rohan