Social mobility for legal aid lawyers has relied on the availability of sponsored legal aid training contracts in recent years.

Members of Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL) were puzzled that the Ministry of Justice spokesperson responding to our social mobility report (see [2010] Gazette, 25 February, 2) refers to the scheme, but fails to mention that the Legal Services Commission did not provide any sponsored training contracts last year and is unable to say with any certainty when the scheme will resume.

Whatever plans the government and the LSC have for the delivery of legal aid, the lack of training opportunities and incentives for young lawyers to commit to legal aid need to be addressed.

The students who want to specialise in legal aid, where they could make a real difference with their work, will have to channel their talent into other areas of law.

The training contracts grants scheme helped firms to accommodate future legal aid solicitors and support them through their training. The impact on social mobility within the legal aid sector is significant, as this was the one proactive step that had been taken by the government to open up legal aid to those from less well-off backgrounds.

The scheme must be resumed and expanded to compensate for the absence of sponsored training contracts last year – just as the legal aid sector was struggling to cope with the double impact of the recession and sweeping changes to legal aid. Failure to do so will be disastrous for social mobility.

Aleksandra Zernova, London NW1