Is LASPO the end of legal aid lawyers and the end of diversity and social mobility in this part of the profession?

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid meets tomorrow to discuss “Is LASPO the end of legal aid lawyers and the end of diversity and social mobility in this part of the profession?”

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act means a cut in legal aid provision of at least a quarter. The cuts are far reaching and it is not yet known how firms and not for profit organisations will respond. It is not necessarily the case that it will be business as usual for providers because the loss of funding for one area of law may mean that the rest of their work is no longer viable.

Coupled with reduced numbers of training contracts, increasing numbers of para-legal posts, the cost of university tuition fees and an end to the minimum training contract salary, there is mounting concern about where the legal aid lawyers of the future will come from. And those who can afford to fund the four years plus of study are likely to be less diverse than has been the case for the last thirty years. The Legal Education and Training Review will be reporting with its proposals by the end of the year.

Just as the health service needs doctors and nurses to continue so the legal aid system needs solicitors and barristers with the requisite skills to carry out complex and challenging work.

Confirmed speakers include:

* Jeremy Corbyn MP;
* Charles Welsh, Skills for Justice;
* a representative from the Law Centres Federation; the Co-Chair of Young Legal Aid Lawyers;
* Michael Burdett, Hanne & Co Solicitors; and
* David Nicholls, Chair of The Bar Council’s Young Barristers’ Committee.

The meeting takes place on Wednesday 11th July at 5pm in Committee Room 9. (As always, do allow time to clear security.

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Some quick notes from last night. Yvonne Fovargue, chair, opened the meeting by highlighting that Manchester University has just closed their social welfare law department, due to a lack of demand and most new law entrants wanting to work on commercial side of law.

Someone from Young Legal Aid Lawyers (whose name I didn’t catch) then spoke to a report that they have drafted called The next generation of legal aid lawyers. This report notes a mounting concern at where the legal aid lawyers of the future will come from, given the LASPO cuts, reduced numbers of training contracts, high tuition fees, and increased use of low-paid para-legal posts (sometimes even unpaid). This is undermining attempts to increase social mobility and diversity in the legal profession.

Gillian Aitkinson of Skills for Justice spoke about the options open for people starting on a para-legal basis to move onto work-based training to become a qualified solicitor, as well as work on developing National Occupational Standards with employers. Jeremy Corbyn Islington MP spoke about the local Law Centre and other advice agencies being overwhelmed by demand, as well as the volumes of people attending his surgery with problems. He suggested an approach to ask the Justice Committee to investigate whether access to justice is being affected by these issues.

Michael Burdett, a solicitor from Hanne and Co I think, made 3 proposals:

1) he hopes to set up a new legal aid scholarship charity by the end of the year, after the LSC discontinued a similar scheme that had trained about 750 solicitors.
2) he noted that £500m of legal aid is spent on 1% of cases, many of which are fraud cases. He says that these should be taken out of scope, which would pay for other cuts, and instead a levy by the FSA should cover these costs.
3) he said that the fight against LASPO must continue as it strikes so fundamentally at access to justice for poor people.

David Nicholls of the Young Barristers Council noted the disproportionate numbers of women and BME solicitors involved in SWL legal aid, which in turn means they are the most impacted by the current cuts. Again, this has direct impacts on the diversity of the legal profession. He suggested more direct access to barristers, more pro-bono and more public legal education as possibly improving the situation a bit but acknowledged the huge challenges also.

Julie Bishop of Law Centres Federation said the key for them is the need to continue to have legal people willing to work with poor and vulnerable people. A diverse workforce of advocates and advisers that is reflective of the wider local community means a better, more efficient service will be delivered. She highlighted 3 schemes LCF are involved in, covering apprenticeships, a pathways scheme and a placements scheme.

Various questions and points followed including highlighting of the ILEX scheme and the Citizens Advice adviser training program.