The government is scrambling to ensure sufficient duty coverage in North Devon that could see solicitors facing a three-hour round trip - or possibly longer – to give police station advice.

According to a Legal Aid Agency consultation, Barnstaple only has one provider and one duty solicitor on the rota beginning in October – the first rota under the new 2022 crime contracts.

As a result, the agency is consulting on changes that could see Barnstaple merge with, or be covered by, the two nearest duty schemes – Exeter, which is 70 minutes away, and Bridgwater, which is 60-90 minutes away.

‘The LAA recognises that travel to Barnstaple from all duty schemes in Devon and the surrounding counties is significant, and that there will be many instances where travel is longer than set out in the above tables because of traffic conditions. Travel to Barnstaple is on rural single carriageway A roads, and may be affected by holiday and agricultural traffic, or whether the travel is during the day or overnight,’ the consultation states.

As well as consulting on changes to the Barnstaple duty scheme membership, the LAA is also consulting on changes to the Barnstaple police station rota. Options include operating as a ‘panel’ instead of a rota during winter months – solicitors would not be mandated to attend but they would have to use their ‘best endeavours’ to accept a reasonable number of panel calls.

The Law Society told the Gazette it expects to see more duty schemes collapse as solicitors continue to quit criminal legal aid.

Society vice-president Lubna Shuja said: ‘The Legal Aid Agency’s approach of combining collapsing schemes with neighbouring schemes is not a viable long-term solution for a service that must be provided face-to-face.

‘It is as unreasonable to expect the suspect and the police to wait hours for a duty solicitor to attend, as it is to expect duty solicitors to travel long distances at any time of the day or night to cover vacant slots. Nor should firms in those neighbouring areas be expected to absorb the additional costs this would impose on them. We have written to the LAA and Ministry of Justice to raise concerns about this.

‘The situation in places like Barnstaple demonstrates the urgent need for investment in the criminal justice system, starting with the recommended minimum legal aid fee increases for solicitors.’

The LAA’s consultation closes on 9 September.

 

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