Report comment

Mr Lidington seems to have forgotten that LASPO was introduced during a time of austerity. There was no money, we all had to share the pain and the political circumstances of the day meant that we had little or no choice but to make savings from the MOJ budget. Now circumstances seem to have changed. The country is not going broke and quite a few commentators say that austerity is not the way forward. Indeed the figures seems to suggest that LASPO may have saved MOJ money in respect of Legal aid spend but increased numbers of Litigants in person and a reluctance to use mediation may have cost money in relation to other budgets. Certainly there is a perception among many that LASPO was nothing about austerity but just a cynical attempt to use the excuse of austerity to weaken the community of Legal Aid Lawyers. Access to Justice however is a powerful need and suppressing it may in time to come be something that the Government regrets.