A review of changes made to the provision of legal aid has been
launched by the Government today.
The post-implementation review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and
Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will seek views on the reforms
introduced under the legislation from interested parties, and the
legal profession in particular.
The review, which will conclude before the start of summer recess
2018, follow’s today’s publication of a post-legislative
memorandum - a preliminary assessment of the Act. Both these
measures deliver on commitments made by previous ministers during
the passage of the Act.
The review will seek to make sure that legal aid continues to be
made available for the highest priority cases, at the same time
as discouraging unnecessary and adversarial litigation and
ensuring value for taxpayers' money.
Justice Minister said:
“We will review the legal aid changes introduced, and I will
shortly be writing to interested groups to invite them to inform
this important work.
“Maintaining access to justice continues to be at the heart of
our reforms. We are focusing legal aid resources on those who
most need help.
“Last year we spent £1.6bn on legal aid last year, just over a
fifth of the Ministry of Justice’s budget.”
The review will examine areas including:
· the changes to the scope of legal aid for family, civil and
criminal cases, and the introduction of the Exceptional Case
Funding Scheme;
· the adjustments to fees for various types of legal aid work;
· the procedural measures the Act brought in, including the
introduction of the mandatory telephone gateway and the
introduction of evidence requirements for victims of domestic
violence and child abuse;
· amendments to the rules on financial eligibility, including the
application of the capital eligibility test to all legal aid
applicants, increasing income contributions for those eligible to
contribute, and capping the subject matter of dispute disregard;
· reform of the application of the merits test;
· the abolition of the Legal Services Commission and its
replacement with the Legal Aid Agency.
Publication of the post-legislative memorandum and the launch of
the post-implementation review deliver on commitments made by the
Coalition Government during the passage of the Act.
A review of the civil litigation funding and costs reforms
introduced in Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment
of Offenders Act will be undertaken in parallel, to the same
timetable.
