OPEN A DIALOGUE


We the undersigned are family and civil legal aid practitioners in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. We have real concerns that the government's proposed changes to the family and civil legal aid system will be disastrous. They will create legal aid advice deserts, particularly in small towns and rural areas.



Contrary to the government's espoused aims, what is proposed will deny the most vulnerable and needy access to well-informed advice. It will restrict access to justice and to proper representation in court, and will bring chaos to the civil court system. It is also discriminatory.



The assertion that the changes will save millions of pounds for the taxpayer and yet ensure a client-focused service is disingenuous and misleading. There is a desire to reduce the number of firms offering legal aid. These ill-considered proposals will seriously impact on rural communities where public transport is often unreliable and sometimes non-existent.



The Legal Services Commission (LSC) accepts that it has based its proposals on an urban model without any consideration of rural factors. It has failed to undertake any rural impact assessment, and yet remains determined to push through the consultation period with inappropriate haste. The period for such significant and far-reaching proposals is only 13 weeks, with publication of the consultation document being timed to coincide with the summer recess.



The government has failed to make out the case for wholesale changes to the way that family and civil lawyers are paid, coupled with a further reduction of the civil legal aid budget. While criminal funding has rocketed, the Lord Chancellor has acknowledged that family and civil funding has decreased by 22% since 1997. After a pay freeze of many years, it is also recognised by the LSC that a bigger proportion of the overall legal aid budget needs to be spent on family and civil work. Therefore, it makes no sense for such radical proposals to be introduced at all, let alone by April 2007. It is intended that there are to be further unspecified reductions in the budget over the next few years.



If the government remains determined to force through these proposals without proper consultation, the majority of, if not all, solicitors undertaking publicly funded work, will no longer find it a viable proposition.

The resources of highly skilful and professional representatives will be lost to the legal aid system, with a dramatic impact not only on the quality of advice and representation but on the administration of courts.





Litigants will be compelled to represent themselves, itself a denial of justice owing to inequality of arms. It will bring gridlock to the family and civil court system at a cost to the taxpayer of millions. It will discriminate against spouses (usually wives) who will have no means to finance representation.



Respect for the rule of law will decline as the quality and accessibility of the family and civil justice system declines, causing further pressure to the fabric of our society. This will inevitably place a greater burden on the police, social services, housing authorities and family crisis organisations at yet more cost to the taxpayer. These proposals, far from saving the taxpayer, are likely to cost more.



We urge the government to withdraw the proposed changes and to enter into proper and measured dialogue based on proper costings and proper consideration of how the family and civil legal aid system works in practice. We also require our Law Society to take a vigorous stance and to start representing the interests of our members.



Boston, Lincs: Jebb & Tunard; Cambridge: CB4LAW; Dereham, Norfolk: Hood Vores & Alrwood; Great Yarmouth, Norfolk: Chamberlins; Haverhill, Suffolk: Stevens; Ipswich: Saunders Goodin Riddleston; King's Lynn, Norfolk: Hawkins, Kenneth Bush, Malletts, Ward Gethin; Lincoln: Anthony Clark & Co, Langleys, Bridge McFarland; Lowestoft, Suffolk: Norton Peskett; March, Cambs: Chapple & Co; Norwich: Allan Rutherford, Belmores, Cozens Hardy & Jewson, Greenland Houchen, Ronaldsons, Saunders & Senior; Peterborough: Bal Dhaliwal, Elsey & Hodson; Spalding, Lincs: Knipe Miller, Maples & Son, Mossop & Bowser; St Neots, Cambs: Leeds Day; Thetford, Norfolk: Rudlings Wakelam; Wisbech, Cambs: Cauthery Waterman & Cheetham, Dawbarns Pearson, Metcalfe Copeman & Pettefar