CIVIL LEGAL AID: LSC chief executive 'not convinced' that current system is best way forward

The future of the matter starts regime in civil legal aid was thrown up in the air this week after the chief executive of the Legal Services Commission (LSC) told MPs that she was not happy with the current system.

Clare Dodgson made her admission during a grilling by the constitutional affairs select committee over whether gaps in advice provision were caused by problems with matter starts, as members voiced serious concerns about the future of the Community Legal Service (CLS).

Ms Dodgson said she did not believe there was a shortage of matter starts - adding that a large number had been unused, which meant that the LSC was 'undershooting' - but said it was considering alternative methods.

'I am not convinced that [a matter starts system] is the best way forward for the future,' she said.

Labour MPs argued that any problems were also down to other issues such as bureaucracy and rates of pay, although Ms Dodgson dismissed concerns about advice deserts as 'alarmist'.

Former Solicitor-General Ross Cranston QC said the profession had lost trust in the audit process, branding it 'an insult to experienced practitioners', and one-time solicitor and barrister Keith Vaz insisted that it had all resulted in a legal aid crisis.

'You have failed and the CLS has failed in providing a seamless network,' he said.

'People have nowhere to go.'

But LSC chairman Philip Ely told the committee that he was 'far from apologetic' about bureaucracy as it was vital to the management of public funds, and criticised firms that dropped out of publicly funded work.

'People who withdraw from legal aid like to make a headline about it - they like to whinge,' he complained.

Speaking after the evidence session, Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) director Richard Miller agreed that the matter starts system was not the best way to target resources, help clients or enable firms to plan for the future.

'We have concluded that it just isn't working, so we find [Ms Dodgson's] comments encouraging,' he added.

The LAPG, the Law Society and other interested parties are gearing up to present their own evidence to the committee next month.

Paula Rohan