Legal aid strike on ice after pay pledge

Criminal solicitors have postponed the 24-hour 'day of rest' planned for this week following promises by the Legal Services Commission to publish pay rates and allow two months for consultation.

The postponement follows last week's confirmation by the Commission that provisional pay rates would be published this week, with consultation to run until January.

Brighton-based practitioner Steve Wedd, former chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association (CLSA) and a key mover behind the strike, said the day of rest had not been cancelled.

'If the Commission now refuse to link pay rates to the [draft criminal legal aid] contract, if they try and say negotiation on the contract is closed and we can only discuss the rates, we will act to ensure the debate remains open,' he warned.

The strike would have seen duty solicitors from Brighton, King's Lynn, Worthing, Haywards Heath and Eastbourne refusing to deal with duty rota calls from police stations and courts for 24 hours from 9am on 14 November (see [2000] Gazettes, 9 November, 3 and 19 October, 3).

Those from Birkenhead and Chester among others were also thought to be considering action.

Jan Davies, of Reading Solicitors Chambers, said local duty solicitors were still considering striking on 19 December pending the publication of pay rates and satisfactory discussions on clauses which impacted on solicitors' independence and client confidentiality.

Mr Wedd said a rescheduled strike would take place on 18 and 19 December to allow solicitors to attend the Law Society's open meeting on the first of those days and to fit in with the planned strike date in Reading.

Richard Collins, the Commission's head of criminal defence services, said it had been unable to publish pay rates until 'some initial consultation' over the draft contract had taken place, as they had to be adjusted to reflect the discussions.

He added that payments in areas such as stand-by rates and telephone advice have already been modified as a result of the consultation.

Consultation on the contract with key groups - including the Law Society, CLSA, Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) and London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association - has also been extended to 24 November, one week after the provisional pay rates are due to be published.

Richard Miller, acting director of the LAPG, said the Commission's response would now give practitioners a chance to negotiate knowing what the financial package was.

Meanwhile, Rodney Warren, chairman of the Law Society's access to justice working party, last week told the Society's council that the profession sees the draft contract as 'wholly unworkable, inappropriate, one-sided and unfair.' He added that at present, discussions were proceeding in a way which made it 'difficult to envisage that we will be able to recommend the contract to the profession'.