Gove forced to abandon £100m legal aid reform

CONTROVERSIAL legal aid reforms were yesterday axed following howls of protest from barristers and solicitors.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove abandoned the £100million shake-up after admitting ‘real problems’ in pressing ahead with the proposals.

The changes initiated by his predecessor Chris Grayling were due to start in months and aimed to cut the bloated £1.6billion legal aid bill.

New contracts would have reduced pay for representing offenders in police stations and magistrates’ courts in England and Wales. The number of duty solicitor contracts would also have dropped from 1,600 to around 500.

But ministers met a wave of opposition and 99 court challenges from law firms, prompting the U-turn. In a written statement, Mr Gove said: ‘My decision is driven in part by the recognition that the litigation will be time-consuming and costly, whatever the outcome.

‘I do not want my department and the legal aid market to face months if not years of uncertainty and expensive litigation.’ The reversal marks a major victory for the legal profession which had resisted with action including strikes.

It had warned that justice could be undermined, law firms could be forced out of business and clients left without legal advice.

Mr Gove also axed an acrossthe-board 8.75 per cent cut in fees. Mark Fenhalls QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, praised his ‘courage’ in reversing the fee changes.

Labour’s justice spokesman Lord Falconer condemned the episode as a ‘fiasco’.

It is the latest policy of his predecessor to be axed by Mr Gove and has triggered fears that the prisons budget will have to make up the shortfall.