Solicitors accused the government of riding roughshod over their views this week as it pledged to plough ahead with legal aid reforms despite widespread opposition from the profession.


In the government's response to the record 2,375 replies to its consultation on Lord Carter's reforms - mostly from solicitors - the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, made it clear that he remains committed to fixed fees and competitive tendering for criminal and civil legal aid.



However, he did give some ground on the timing of the proposals following lawyers' concerns over the 'indecent haste' of the original review, putting back fixed fees and bringing foward tendering.



Fixed fees in all areas except magistrates' court work have been put back from April to October next year. Fixed fees for police station work will also be based on smaller geographical areas than initially proposed, while reductions in the amount paid for travel and waiting - which will be factored into the fixed fee - will not initially apply to rural areas.



Standard fees for magistrates' courts will be introduced next April, but only in urban areas, which have yet to be defined. A litigator's fee in the Crown Court will take effect in October. The move from fixed fees to best-value tendering for police station, magistrates' court and Crown Court work will be brought forward a year to October 2008, so lawyers can benefit from larger case volumes.



For civil work, national fixed fees will replace tailored fixed fees, and a graduated fee scheme will be implemented for immigration and asylum work in October.



Revised graduated fees for care proceedings and private family work will also be introduced in October, but a consultation on new rates will be held early next year. The graduated fee scheme for mental health work will also be reviewed 'in light of responses' and has been postponed until October.



The government's announcement comes as criminal defence lawyers are set to meet in Birmingham this week to discuss a possible national strike in protest at the legal aid reforms. Lord Falconer said: 'I do not know whether solicitors will go on strike, but I strongly urge them not to... the worst thing that could happen is that they take industrial action.' He added: 'There are significant numbers of solicitors who believe this is the right way forward.'



Legal Aid Practitioners Group director Richard Miller said: 'It is a real concern that the social welfare reforms are going ahead - deferring them for six months will not make much difference.



'Family lawyers can be satisfied that the government has acknowledged that the fees proposed were not workable, but it has not taken on board anything that the criminal lawyers have said'.



Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said the proposals were 'still unworkable' and were unlikely

to be acceptable to criminal law solicitors.



Law Society Vice-President Andrew Holroyd said the government's changes 'do not go far enough' and would still endanger the supplier base. He also objected to Lord Falconer telling legal aid lawyers to 'knuckle down' and cope with the reforms, saying it will be seen as a 'slap in the face'.



By Rachel Rothwell



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