The Ministry of Justice published its analysis of the impact of LASPO in February. Although it acknowledges that the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 damaged access to justice in England and Wales, the scale of any improvements is disappointingly modest. The government committed to spending only £8 million – a tiny fraction of the amount cut from the legal aid budget since 2013. At the All Party Parliamentary Group meeting on 27 February, Lucy Frazer QC MP (Under Secretary of State for Justice) stated that there would also be additional expenditure on some of the initiatives which had been announced; but this was not quantified.
There are some glaring ommissions – for example failing to extend legal aid for inquests or provide any legal aid to assist the ‘Windrush’ generation. The list of concrete proposals with dates attached is to be welcomed. They seem more likely to be implemented than the more ambitious list of initiatives with no target dates; but only time will tell.
2019
- Expand scope to include separated migrant children in immigration – by 2019
- Non-means-tested legal aid for parents/people with parental responsibility who wish to oppose applications for placement orders in public law proceedings – by summer 2019
- Test changes to improve triage and signposting by the Civil Legal Aid telephone service – by summer 2019
- Implement a campaign to improve awareness of legal aid – by autumn 2019
- Expand scope to include special guardianship orders – by autumn 2019
- Pilot and evaluate the expansion of legal aid for early advice in a specific area of social welfare law – by autumn 2019
- Review whether the exceptional case funding scheme can be simplified – by the end of 2019
- Enhance provision for litigants in person and increase funding to the litigants in person support strategy to £3 million for the next two years
2020
- Renove the mandatory telephone gateway in Debt, Discrimination and Special Educational Needs – by spring 2020
- Review the legal aid means test – by summer 2020
- Review crime legal aid fee schemes – by summer 2020
- Conduct a review of regulatory and administrative requirements passed on to providers and streamline where possible – by the end of 2020
No specific timetable
- Work with the Law Society to explore an alternative model for family legal aid
- Consult on proposals to provide separate guidance for families on legal aid for inquests
- Undertake a pilot to explore how signposting can be better co-ordinated
- Pilot, test and evaluate holistic legal support hubs ot support early resoltion of legal problems
- Work across government to reduce preventable demand
- Foster a culture of innovation and use data more effectively
- Set up a Legal Support Advisory Network to make use of external expertise to shape research and evaluation
Legal Aid Handbook 