A new report by the cross-party Public Accounts Committee has concluded that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) introduced civil Legal Aid reforms “without taking account of the potential consequences”.
The committee also says that the MoJ continues “to show little interest” in the knock-on effects of reforms to Legal Aid for civil cases, including family cases and property cases involving owner-occupiers, such as Landlord & Tenant disputes over leasehold properties and owner-occupier disrepair cases.
The Law Society Gazette reports that the committee said that, as a result of the implementation of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, the MoJ is “on course” to make a significant reduction in Legal Aid spending.
However, the committee says that, despite the rapid reduction in spending on Legal Aid, it has no idea whether the target saving of £300 million is being “outweighed” by additional costs elsewhere in the justice system.
The reports also adds that the MoJ does not even know if those who are eligible for public funding for their case are able to access Legal Aid – claiming that the MoJ “does not understand the link between the price it pays for Legal Aid and the quality of advice being given”.
“Perhaps most worryingly of all, it does not understand – and has shown – little interest in the knock-on effects of its reforms across the public sector,” the report states.
However, the MoJ has defended reforms to Legal Aid and said that data from the National Audit Office has not suggested that the reforms have impacted on other government departments.
Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge said:
“The ministry still does not understand what its reforms mean for people.
“It has little understanding of why people go to court – and how and why people access Legal Aid in the first place.”
Ms Hodge said that it was “deeply disturbing” that Legal Aid reforms were not based on evidence – but on “an objective to cut costs as quickly as possible”.
The committee’s report recommends the introduction of a mechanism to identify and address “shortfalls in Legal Aid provision”.
The committee has also called for more evidence to be used in future decisions on Legal Aid provision, as well as the collection of “reliable” data on the operations of the court service.
The report also recommends a review of processes for those who are not eligible for Legal Aid to fight a case.
A spokesman for the MoJ said:
“We are pleased the committee has acknowledged our reforms have been successful in making the significant savings we had not choice but to find, given the financial crisis this government inherited.”
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