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 08 October 2008 00:51 BST

Legal aid changes to be debated

Thursday, 11 Jan 2007 08:44
Citizens Advice says the changes will harm the most vulnerable

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Proposed changes to Britain's legal aid system will be debated in Westminster today.

The government is aiming to preserve the highest quality of service for vulnerable people by making payments to lawyers based on whole cases and completed work, rather than hourly rates.

Legal aid minister Vera Baird claims that this will remove incentives for cases to be "concluded swiftly" and remove the possibility of inefficiency being rewarded.

But Citizens Advice believes that the proposed changes could in fact make already difficult situations more problematic for vulnerable Britons by denying them expert advice.

The charity, which handled 5.5 million separate financial problems in 2006 alone, is lobbying MPs to back its call to have higher fixed fees that rise in line with increases in costs.

Teresa Perchard, director of policy at Citizens Advice, explained: "Legal aid is essential to enable people on limited means to get access to justice.

"However, the government's proposed system, with limited exceptions, will pay the same per case whether it requires one hour or eight to resolve. There will therefore be pressure on all legal aid suppliers to cherry-pick simple cases."

Ms Perchard went on to say: "Many of the people that bureaux help are vulnerable and have very complicated cases that take a lot of assistance. If those people cannot come to us for help, there may be nowhere else for them to go."

But Ms Baird will say later today that "quality is at the heart of the [the government's] reforms".

"If providers - solicitor, public sector and third sector do not pass the appropriate level of peer review, they will not be entitled to any work at all," the minister is expected to claim.

"Legal aid is an integral part of the welfare state that protects the vulnerable and ensures justice is done. That makes it imperative to ensure that the budget is well-spent and delivers top quality advice to all those who need it."End of story


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