Out of pocket

Squeezing money out of the Treasury is never easy, especially with the Chancellor of the Exchequer so besotted with fair lady Prudence.

Therefore, it is not lightly that we draw the attention of the government and the Lord Chancellor's Department to the dire warnings emanating from two reports this week.

But if both the Family Advice and Information Networks and the Community Legal Service Partnerships are to survive and be meaningful, greater Whitehall investment is required.

The problem is two-fold: first, the FAIN pilots have created an extra burden on participating solicitors in terms of time and red tape - for which they are not being paid.

And the CLSPs - in many ways the cornerstone of the government's approach to publicly funded legal advice - are in danger of being viewed as little more than talking shops that occasionally reallocate existing funds.

Undoubtedly, both the wider government and the LCD specifically have their hearts in right place with these projects, but they cannot expect solicitors to help if they end up out of pocket.

Legal aid practitioners struggle enough under an ever-increasing wave of bureaucracy and low pay, without giving their time free to these schemes.

More investment is needed, but will Prudence smile on state-funded lawyers