Legal aid eligibility reform 'catastrophic'

By Sue Allen

Government plans to simplify eligibility tests for people receiving civil legal aid have been greeted with outrage bypractitioners and were described as catastrophic' in their effect on improving access to justice.The proposals for new eligibility limits appeared for the first time this week in a consultation paper issued by the Lord Chancellor's Department.The most controversial proposal would see people with more than 3,000 equity in their houses liable to make a contribution to their cases - at present, homeowners with up to 100,000 equity are eligible to receive full legal aid.A Law Society spokesman said these proposals 'would effectively abolish legal aid for virtually all homeowners'.

Richard Miller, acting director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said they were shocked and angry' at the proposals on home equity.

'These rules will demand money from people who quite clearly have no realistic means of contributing to the costs, thus effectively preventing them from pursuing valid cases,' he claimed.The paper also envisages the introduction of a banding system for calculating costs for legal representation and support funding.

Under this, the first 1,500 of people's yearly disposable income above the lower exempt limit will be subject to a contribution of one quarter, rising to a third for disposable income between 1,501 and 3,000, and to a half where disposable income exceeds 3,000.Legal help and help at court will be subject to a single contribution scheme which would see people paying 45, 150 or 300 within the same income bands.Karen Mackay, director of the Legal Action Group, said she welcomed the proposal to reintroduce contributory banding.

'There are certain categories of case, like employment where people are on low pay or have had a pay-out, where in the past they have been totally outside eligibility,' she said.A proposed new means test will contain an overall income cap.

Income calculations will be based on gross income net of tax and National Insurance, an allowance for housing costs subject to a cap where there are no dependants, allowances for dependants and a 10-a-week work allowance.Mr Miller said he was suspicious because no figure for an upper income cap had been published.

'It is easy to see that this sum could be decreased or frozen over the years to cut people out of the scheme,' he said.