Pay rises announced this week for legal aid solicitors doing housing and immigration work are not big enough to future proof those parts of the civil legal aid sector, the government has been warned.
On Wednesday, justice minister Sarah Sackman KC announced an extra £20m a year for housing and immigration work to 'rebuild a more stable and sustainable legal aid sector - one that is fit for the future, and attracts and retains the brightest and the best practitioners'.
The government’s recognition of the urgent need for extra cash was widely welcomed.
However, Law Society president Richard Atkinson said that while the fee increases will help make the work more sustainable, the government's claim that they will make the work more profitable is ‘questionable’. Atkinson said a 95% increase was required to restore fees to 1996 levels.
‘Without at least an assurance that rates will be maintained in real terms, this increase may not be enough and justice will be a mirage in legal aid deserts across England and Wales,’ he added.
London firm Duncan Lewis, which dropped legal action against the government over immigration and asylum fees, welcomed the fee increases for controlled work. However, consultant solicitor Jeremy Bloom said the increases for licensed work were not enough to ensure people can find representation ‘given the need for qualified solicitors to have conduct of and close management of licensed work’.
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The Housing Law Practitioners’ Association, Legal Aid Practitioners Group and Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association welcomed the sentiment behind the fee increases but were ‘disappointed… that while the MoJ appears to acknowledge the concerns of the vast majority of respondents, they have not taken heed of those concerns by implementing the higher rates required to address challenges such as sustainability, retention and profitability’.
Concern was raised about when the housing and immigration fees will be uplifted in light of the recent cyber attack on the Legal Aid Agency's systems.
Bar Council chair Barbara Mills KC said: 'We don’t yet know when the systems will be restored and this, coupled with concerns over the recoupment process for fees paid via the contingency measure, is creating high levels of distress and anxiety amongst the publicly funded bar.'
There was unanimous disappointment at the government’s silence on fees for the other nine civil legal aid contract areas of law, which include family, mental health, education, community care and discrimination.
The government’s announcement also prompted renewed calls for an independent pay review body.
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