LEGAL AID: level playing field for all not-for-profit providers


The legal aid minister Lord Hunt 'cannot put a protective ring around law centres', he told the Gazette in an interview this week.



Hunt said he had to ensure that the fixed-fees regime for civil legal aid provides value for money and a level playing field for all not-for-profit providers.



Responding to criticism that fixed fees have forced community legal advice centres into such serious debt that some face closure (see [2008] Gazette, 13 March, 1), he said: 'Our job is not to ensure that every [legal aid] provider... should be able to ?provide legal aid in the future.



'My concern is about: do the public get access to good legal advice services? Is this access available in all parts of the country? Are we providing value for money for the taxpayer?'



Following a meeting with the Law Centres Federation (LCF) last week, the minister has asked the LCF and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to discuss extending the initial transition period allowed for law centres to implement the new funding regime - originally set for April this year.



Hunt stressed his support for the contribution of community law centres, underlining that LSC staff had visited centres to advise on efficiencies in administration and billing.



He said spending on law centres had risen from £5.5 million in 2000/01 to £9.4 million in 2006/07, adding that there was an opt-out of fixed fees to an hourly rate for cases that would take three times longer to process than usual.



However, Hunt said he could not put a 'protective ring' around law centres. He added: 'The not-for-profit sector is competitive in itself. It is very difficult to just point a finger at one part of the not-for-profit sector and say it has absolute protection.'



Hunt added: 'I really admire what they do... but that doesn't mean to say we are not entitled to ask them to run their affairs in a business-like way - we are talking about public money.'



LCF chairman John Fitzpatrick said he welcomed help for 'each and every law centre' but warned: 'Diversity in service delivery is vital for the most disadvantaged in the community.'



Anita Rice