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24 hours after my original comment, the only further suggestion is some form of mandatory McKenzie Friends licensing system (Mr Whitehurst, Law Mann), the bones of which appear already to exist (Law Mann and Anon @9.27).

Since the other options I proposed seem unlikely to be adopted (which includes bringing back legal aid - I think that is so improbable as to be fantasy), surely the push should be behind recognising and licensing McKenzie Friends? Possibly it could also have Government support in various ways: for example, solicitors no longer in practice could get some form of tax break linked to their work as McKenzie Friends?

This isn't to say that Government shouldn't also encourage and assist solicitors to do more work, but Government's best policy for doing this is surely to lighten the regulatory burden on solicitors, possibly introduce limitations on liability (or ban PI insurance, as others have advocated elsewhere) so as to reduce the costs to solicitors of being solicitors.

Regulating and encouraging McKenzie Friends isn't THE answer, but can be part of the answer.