The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has allocated 10% more matter starts for civil legal aid practitioners, it has announced, but practitioners have warned that the plans will fail unless there are remuneration increases.

The new allocation may also include the power to switch matter starts between categories of law, to self-authorise an increase up to a certain limit and extra support for firms that benefit, including funding for training, recruitment or supervision. The scheme will go ahead according to LSC regional offices' individual plans, but does not cover immigration.


However, David Emmerson, immediate past chairman of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said the LSC was burying its head in the sand if it thought it could tackle current problems with the initiative, as law firms were no longer prepared to take on the work at current rates. 'The main problem is remuneration,' he argued.