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Changes to remuneration for civil legal aid
The Legal Services Commission has published a summary of changes to be implemented on 3 Oct 2011 for civil legal aid remuneration, as detailed in the Ministry of Justice’s response to the consultation paper, Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales.
Codify barrister rates - Codify barristers rates and reduce by 10%.
Fee reduction - Implement the proposed 10% reduction in all fees paid under the civil legal aid scheme (with the exception of telephone advice) including CLAC/Ns and other specialist services
Enhancements - Agree that the level of enhancements available in civil cases should be capped at a maximum of 50% in the county courts and 100% in the High Court on the basis that they will not result in a pro-rata reduction in the level of enhancements currently awarded below these levels
Codify expert rates - Codify the benchmark rates for experts, and reduce by 10%, with provision for exceptional cases; continue to develop a longer term framework towards a fixed and graduated fee scheme.
Summary of changes to be implemented on 3 Oct 2011 - LSC website
Legal Action Group blog reporting that Lord Bach, the former legal aid minister, is taking advantage of a rarely used parliamentary procedure to get a debate on the statutory instrument which introduces the 10% cut for all legal aid practitioners this month. The motion will be debated in the House of Lords on 26 October.
The full text of Lord Bach’s motion is:
‘Lord Bach to move that a Humble Address be presented to Her Majesty praying that the Community Legal Service (Funding) (Amendment No 2) Order 2011 (SI 2011/2066), laid before the House on 24 August, be annulled, on the grounds that the reduction in civil standard and graduated fees for Legal Help and Help at Court will seriously undermine access to justice because it threatens the financial viability of already hard-pressed community legal practitioners who carry out an essential service to those least able to afford it, including the most vulnerable in our society.’
I find it shocking that fixed fees can be reduced by 10% at a time when inflation is so high and none of us caseworkers have had a pay rise (not even in line with inflation) for I don’t know how many years. If CABx, Law Centres, Solicitors, etc can’t lower our salaries by 10% (which I think would be illegal under employment law, correct me if I’m wrong) then the result is going to be that we will be even more pressed to open and close cases quickly, cherry-pick the easiest/quickest ones, open as many NMS as possible and all the tricks that are forced on us often at the expense of quality or the best interests of the client.