The lawyer will see you now: GP surgeries to dispense legal advice
Government review wants patients to have access to professional guidance before a case takes root
LAWYERS are to be stationed in GPS’ surgeries to offer legal advice to patients as part of a government overhaul of the £1.6billion-a-year legal aid system.
Lucy Frazer, the Justice Minister, said the lawyers could advise patients who “might not know they have a legal issue” over their finances or housing.
The aim was to prevent legal problems from escalating into lengthy court battles that could cost complainants and taxpayers thousands of pounds.
The move will be backed by a £5million fund to develop innovative ways of providing legal support, including using Skype or video links for lawyers’ advice sessions and apps that could turn lengthy written arguments into legal submissions.
It follows a year-long review of earlier legal aid reforms, which reduced the £2billion-a-year budget to provide better value for money but instead led to widespread criticism that it denied thousands access to justice.
Yesterday critics described the new package as “too little, too late”.
To counter the criticism, Ms Frazer announced an expansion of the scope of legal aid to include children who are currently excluded. This includes separated migrant children and those subject to guardianship orders.
She also unveiled a review of the current thresholds for legal aid entitlement and a possible widening of eligibility, which she said could see “significant sums” being invested in the system. The income limit for legal aid is currently £733 a month.
Ms Frazer said the concept of lawyers in GPS’ surgeries was a response to the review which found “overwhelming” support for early intervention to prevent potentially expensive legal actions needing government aid. Two pilots have already been launched in Bristol and Newham, east London.
“We will catch people who don’t know they have a legal issue before them come to us,” she said.
The Ministry of Justice is also going to pilot an expansion of early face-toface legal advice in social welfare law so people could resolve problems quickly before they went to court.
However Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary, branded the review “too little, too late”.
He said: “The Government has wasted two years investigating the impact of its own legal aid cuts only to respond with no credible plan to end the suffering they have caused.”
Richard Atkins QC, chairman of the Bar Council, was also disappointed, saying: “The 500-page report offers little of substance to ease the impact of [the previous reforms] on vulnerable individuals seeking justice.”