Lawyers fear legal aid squeeze to plug gaps in government criminal law funds

CLSA CONFERENCE: warning of 'radical steps' ahead to head off shortfall of up to 70 million

Fears are growing that legal aid practitioners are in for a tough time because public funding may be slashed to cover an overspend resulting from the government's reforms to the criminal justice system.

The concerns arose at last weekend's Criminal Law Solicitors Association conference in Leicestershire.

Director Rodney Warren warned that the government was likely to take 'radical steps' to stem a rise in Legal Services Commission (LSC) crime spending which is expected to put it in the red by an estimated 50 to 70 million this financial year.

The LSC has put the increased cost down to factors including changes to sentencing guidelines and the abolition of the means test.

A spokesman added: 'In the Crown Court, the cost of the small number of most expensive cases continues to be a major factor, with the 1% most expensive cases now accounting for 49% of expenditure.'

A source close to the issue said LSC officials were becoming increasingly pessimistic about a government funding announcement, which is now expected by Christmas.

Mr Warren told delegates that although more spending meant a rise in turnover for firms, it also resulted in increased overheads.

Speaking after the conference, he echoed delegates' concerns that the government would try to slash the budget by up to 20% and had closed the doors on discussions with practitioners because of this.

'I am concerned that the government has identified a problem that it created and will then pass it to us to pay the price,' he said.

Richard Miller, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said: 'We are not panicking yet, but we are concerned about the way things are going and we are keeping a watching brief.'

An LCD spokeswoman confirmed the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, was in discussions with Home Secretary David Blunkett and Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith QC about the entire crime budget.

Meanwhile, conference delegates heard that the LSC has agreed not to make further expansions to its public defender service (PDS) pilot scheme until 2004, after the Law Society warned that it risked falling foul of competition laws.

Law Society President Carolyn Kirby said the PDS could disrupt normal market forces because it was not subject to the same commercial pressures as private practice.

'We believe the LSC must therefore ensure that it does not introduce new offices in such a way as to amount to an anti-competitive abuse of its dominant position,' she added.

Paula Rohan