Legal aid left in crisis as anniversary looms large
The legal aid system is in “crisis”, with fewer people than ever before having access to justice, lawyers fear.
The “hostile” culture that favours rejecting funding applications means the public are struggling to get the legal representation they need and the problem is getting worse, it is claimed.
The 70th anniversary of legal aid, introduced on 30 July 1949 to help pay for representation in court proceedings, comes amid growing calls for an urgent overhaul of the system, which professionals claim is floundering amid steep cuts and a raft of errors when handling applications.
In the first three months of this year the amount of money spent on legal aid in criminal cases dropped and the number of applications for help paying for representation in civil cases rose, according to Government figures.
Richard Miller, the head of legal aid at the Law Society of England and Wales, said since cuts were made in 2013 many were in the “ludicrous situation” where they cannot get the help they need.
There are “major issues” in funding for criminal cases and civil proceedings such as hearings in family court, but particularly for inquests, he said, leaving many members of the public to navigate complex proceedings by representing themselves. “It’s definitely limiting access to justice,” he said.
“There are massive problems caused by under-funding. The government really hasn’t got to grips with the scale of the crisis.” Mr Miller also hit out at the state-sponsored Legal Aid Agency, which decides whether to grant funding requests, saying it had become “much more hostile over the years”.
Richard Atkins QC, chairman of the Bar Council, noted that legal aid spending fell by 37 per cent from 2010/11 to £1.6 billion in 2017/18.
He said: “You can’t have that sort of cut and maintain the quality that you had however many years before.
“It is a lot less than the figure that was spent and all of the problems that we see – people unrepresented, people having to pay vast amounts of money that in the past they would have had assistance with – that can’t be a good thing.”
Earlier this month the then justice minister responsible for legal aid, Paul Maynard, pledged in Parliament to look at inquest funding for families after criticism of the refusal to provide funding for victims’ relatives at the London Bridge terror attack inquest.
It prompted campaigners to reiterate calls for automatic funding for grieving relatives facing inquests where state bodies may have played a part in a loved one’s death or when the circumstances are of huge public concern.
At present the money is rigorously means tested.
Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, a charity that supports families facing such proceedings, said it was “inexcusable” and “absolutely shameful” the funding was refused.