All those doing legal aid work will want to know why there has been yet another freeze in legal aid rates.

Perhaps the best way of understanding the government's thinking is to read excerpts from a letter (below) from the Lord Chancellor's Department to the Society last January, setting out the preliminary views of the Parliamentary Secretary, Gary Streeter MP, on the Society's claim for improvements in legal aid remuneration.The Parliamentary Secretary's argument that no increase is needed relies heavily on the fact that the total income to the profession is increasing, both in amount and proportion of total earnings.

The Society's representatives argued long and hard that this means that more time is being spent on the work.

That is not the same as saying that earnings have increased.

Individual solicitors' earnings from legal aid can increase only if they work much longer hours or if they do less private work -- and few would choose to do that.The Parliamentary Secretary, when announcing the ultimate decision to freeze pay, also relied on the cost this year to public funds.

However, although the government estimates that legal aid expenditure next year will increase by almost 6%, the provisions for next year (which represent the government's predictions about spending) were reduced by the treasury in November by £33 million for 1997-98 and by £130 million for 1998-89, which rather goes to disprove the claim that expenditure on legal aid is out of control.

When I met Gary Streeter he discussed the position in relation to privately funded work.

He wrote to me subsequently to confirm his view that rates in the non-contentious sector had not increased, indeed there was pressure to cut them, so that it was hard to see why the government should pay more for legal aid.

I do not believe the minister's assertion is generally true for private work, and certainly not for contentious work, where the average expense rates allowed by courts on taxation have increased year on year.

In any event, legal aid practitioners will not feel it is relevant to their needs, when legal aid rates are so far behind not only private rates, but the cost of running an office.The minister wrote to me on 17 March.

The President, Tony Girling, saw the Lord Chancellor on 19 March and made it clear that it would be hard for many firms to justify their continuing commitment to legal aid when they continued to have to work at a loss.

Nevertheless, the Lord Chancellor was not prepared to change the approach taken by his junior minister.I leave readers to decide whether they are persuaded by the minister's views.

The message seems to be that the government wil l not listen until legal aid is in crisis -- such as when large numbers of firms have given up legal aid work so that clients can no longer find a solicitor willing to assist.

That is no way to run a major public service.EXCERPTS FROM A LETTER FROM THE LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT TO THE LAW SOCIETY, JANUARY 1997.I am writing to inform you of the Parliamentary Secretary's preliminary views with regard to legal aid remuneration rates for solicitors for 1997-98.

In reaching his conclusions, the Parliamentary Secretary has considered information relevant to each of the statutory factors set out in section 34 (9) of the Legal Aid Act 1988, other relevant information and the points made in the Law Society's submission.THE STATUTORY FACTORS-- The time and skill required to do the workThis factor was largely taken into account when the legal aid system was established and fee levels and structures were set.

Where hourly rates apply, the time taken to undertake the work is taken into account when taxing or assessing fees.

Turning to standard fees, raised in the submission by The Law Society, there is concern about additional work under the Crown Court standard fee scheme, following the implementation of the Criminal Procedures and Investigations Act 1996.

The Lord Chancellor's Department would contend that the current scheme is flexible enough to accommodate these changes.

The Society has indicated in any case that it is not certain of what effect the implementation of this Act might have, and whilst the LCD will of course consider this area again should particular problems become evident, it does not propose to make any changes at the present time.

The skill required by the work is accounted for in the current structure of the remuneration system which allows for exceptional skill or difficulty to be rewarded at a higher level than the ordinary rates.-- The general level of fee income arising from legal aid workSolicitors' total fee income from legal aid continues to increase at a rate well above inflation.

The total value of payments to solicitors increased from £1029.7 million in 1994-95 to £1116.2 million in 1995-96, an increase of 8.4%.

The proportion of solicitors' total fee income derived from legal aid remains more or less constant, in fact showing a slight increase: in 1994-95 (latest figures available), 14.9% of solicitors' income was derived from legal aid, compared with 14.5% in 1993-94.

The average value of payments made to solicitors has risen by 6% between the financial year 1994-95 and 1995-96 and by 28% over the last five years, and now stands at £326.89.

The average payment in 1991-92 of £255.68 would represent £283.21 at 1995-96 prices.

There has therefore been an increase of 15.4% above inflation.-- The general level of expenses attributable to the workThe Law Society again bases its claim for an uprating to a great extent on the increase in costs, as measured by the Solicitors' Costs Index since the last overall uprating in 1992.

Specifically, the Society requests an increase of 5% this year as a first step towards covering the 15% increase in costs since 1992.

The Parliamentary Secretary does not accept that there is in fact any need to 'restore' the 1992 position.

The increase in solicitors' costs since last year was 1.8%.-- The number and general level of competence of those undertaking the workThe number of solicitors' offices receiving payment of legal aid has risen from 11,062 in 1994-95, to 11,999 in 1995-96, an increase of 8.5%.

The proportion of offices receiving payments for legal aid has also increased from 80.3% in 1994-95, to 85.7% in 1995-96.

The Parliamentary Secretary is therefore satisfied that there is a sufficiently high level of offices providing legally aided legal services.The Parliamentary Secretary has also considered information on the number of solicitors in private practice and on recruitment to the solicitors' profession.

There has been a 3.6% increase in the number of solicitors in private practice in the last year.

With regard to recruitment of solicitors, the number of traineeships registered in 1995-96 has fallen by 2.6% on the figure for 1994-95.

However, the number still remains high at 4,063.-- The effect of the regulations on the handling of the workThe Law Society has reiterated the view that legal aid work is being allocated to more junior fee earners.

There is, however, no evidence of a general decline in the standard of legal aid work.

Legal Aid Board figures continue to show that an increasing proportion of legally aided civil cases are decided with a judgement in favour of an assisted party, or settled.

This would certainly suggest that present rates are not contributing to a decrease in quality.-- The cost to public fundsThe Law Society has argued that the financial constraints on the Parliamentary Secretary have eased in recent years.

While it is true that the Parliamentary Secretary has gained a greater measure of control over legal aid, gross expenditure on legal aid continues to grow, this year by 9%, following an increase of 8.9% in 1994-95.

The overall pressure on public expenditure has not diminished, and the government remains determined to contain public spending, as evidenced by the Public Expenditure plans announced at the time of the budget.

It is the Parliamentary Secretary's view that particular weight must be given to this factor this year.-- Other factorsThe Parliamentary Secretary has considered other factors in connection with the remuneration round.

The Law Society referred in its submission to various pay increases in the public sector.

Ministers have always held that comparisons with pay increases are not entirely valid, as public sector wage agreements refer to salary increases whereas legal aid rate increases refer to individual units of work or time.

The solicitors' profession as a whole has received increases in legal aid income of 6.9% and 8.4% over the last two years.

The Parliamentary Secretary has also considered the rate of inflation.

The current forecast for GDP is 2.25% for 1996-97, and 2% for 1997-98.-- Conclusion -- upratingThe Parliamentary Secretary has considered all of the above factors in reaching his preliminary view on this year's remuneration round.

He has noted the increase in the past year in the number of solicitors' offices who are receiving payment for legal aid.

He has also noted the increase of 8.4% in the total fee income which solicitors' have received from legal aid in the last financial year.

This has been despite an overall decrease of 1.2% in the number of acts of assistance in the same period.Bearing these points in mind, and placing particular emphasis on the need to contain public expenditure, the Parliamentary Secretary does not consider it appropriate to increase the remuneration rates in any areas for 1997-98.LEGAL AID PAY CLAIM 1996-97In addition to a bid for a 5% uprating for legal aid practitioners, the Law Society also made the following specific requests which were also rejected by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary:Cashflow measures:Franchised firms-- payments on account in lo ng running criminal cases in magistrates' courts-- payments on account in long running green form casesCriminal legal aid-- payment on account arrangements for disbursements on all criminal legal aid cases where the total exceeds £30-- payment on account of 75% of the bill on the lodging of the bill for determination in the Crown CourtCivil legal aid-- costs relating to solicitor agents' fees to be eligible for payments on account when they are incurred, where the instruction of an agent may result in lesser expense to the legal aid fund-- amendments to regulations to allow interest on costs recovered inter partes to be retained by assisted parties' solicitorsGreen Form and ABWOR-- payment on account arrangements for disbursements in excess of £30Measures to resolve anomalies:Franchised firms-- payment of an annual franchising administration fee-- grants for franchised firms to expand their volume of legal aid work-- rates paid to firms with a criminal law franchise for letters and telephone calls for Crown Court work to be increased to the same level as for magistrates' court workCriminal legal aid-- amendment of the standard fees in the magistrates' court table to provide that Newton hearings and special reasons hearings should attract category 2 standard fees-- the introduction of higher rates of remuneration for own solicitors and accredited representatives attending police stations in unsocial hours-- the removal of the clawback provision on police station duty solicitors' standby payments for all solicitors whether or not they are franchisedStandard fees in the magistrates' courts-- the core maxima for magistrates' court standard fees should be reduced substantially to achieve the intended distribution of casesCashflow measures:Criminal legal aid-- the Crown Court payment on account scheme should pay at least 40% of solicitors' costs, excluding disbursementsCivil legal aid-- reduction in the time for which the first payment on account can be claimed from 12 months to six months-- subsequent payments on account to be made every six months throughout the lifetime of a case-- removal of the limitation on the number of payments on account fornon-franchised firms throughout the lifetime of a case-- unless this limitation is removed, to provide that when a certificate is transferred to a new firm they should be able to claim at least three annual payments on account.Family legal aid-- amendment of the provision for enhanced rates so that it matches those in civil and criminal cases-- different preparation rates for different grades of fee earner-- an increase in matrimonial advocacy rates-- an increase for attendance with counsel in matrimonial cases, where the presence of a conducting fee earner is necessary-- an increase in the green form limit in matrimonial cases-- rates in the family proceedings courts to be increased to the same rate as applies in the county courtPanel payments-- that payment to members of the Law Society's panels should be at the same rate as for franchised firmsAdvocacy fees-- that pending introduction of any standard fee scheme advocacy fees should be prescribed for all aspects of legal aid work on the basis of equal treatment of solicitors and barristersLate payments-- that the regulations should be amended to provide for a statutory duty on appropriate authorities to assess claims within a specified period and to pay interest when paid late