It looks like the final nail in the coffin of best value tendering (BVT) has now been hammered in - for now at least. The government has announced that it is abandoning plans for the pilots. The tendering process had been due to start in the New Year for Avon and Somerset, and Greater Manchester. This climb down will come as a considerable relief to the practitioners in these areas.
It seems to LAG that the government was swayed by the argument that it was unfair to expect firms to tender for the work when the consultations on Crown Court and Very High Cost Cases fees were still pending. Firms need to know what fees they can expect across the board in criminal work before they tender for police station work.
The government and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) say that they are going to work up alternative plans. The legal aid minister Lord Bach told LAG this afternoon that he expects 'by March next year to have some outline improved proposals'. Any implementation will be down to the next government. Both the LSC and government still seem convinced that some form of competitive tendering can provide the magic bullet to control legal aid costs. We at LAG remain sceptical.
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Criminal fee cuts announced
Cuts in fees for criminal legal aid have been announced by the government. Details of the cuts were given by legal aid minister Lord Bach in a written ministerial statement to parliament at 12 noon today. The cuts follow the proposals outlined in the August 2009 paper, Legal aid: funding reforms. The main proposals are:
- Fees for police station work will be cut back in the areas the government describes as 'the most expensive and over-subscribed'. LAG understands that this could hit up to 160 areas.
- One fixed fee will be paid for committal hearings.
- The fee for file reviews in criminal cases will end.
An announcement on the reduction in experts' fees, which had also been proposed, will be made in January. The government will also launch a second consultation on reducing Crown Court fees. The government estimates that £23m will be made in savings from the cuts announced today over the next year.
LAG knows that these cuts will hit some hard-pressed firms, especially in London, where the cost of undertaking police station cover can be higher due to delays and the diverse range of clients who need advice. In some respects, though, this could be seen as the least worst option if the cash saved can be used to prop up the civil legal aid budget which is creaking under the strain of increased demand caused by the recession.
LAG is being told by legal aid lawyers that the Legal Services Commission has run out of money for civil cases. For £23m, 115,000 more clients in debt or 132,000 more clients with housing problems could be seen. LAG will be seeking assurances that this money will not disappear back into the Treasury's coffers, but will be used to help people cope with the effects of the recession.
- Fees for police station work will be cut back in the areas the government describes as 'the most expensive and over-subscribed'. LAG understands that this could hit up to 160 areas.
- One fixed fee will be paid for committal hearings.
- The fee for file reviews in criminal cases will end.
An announcement on the reduction in experts' fees, which had also been proposed, will be made in January. The government will also launch a second consultation on reducing Crown Court fees. The government estimates that £23m will be made in savings from the cuts announced today over the next year.
LAG knows that these cuts will hit some hard-pressed firms, especially in London, where the cost of undertaking police station cover can be higher due to delays and the diverse range of clients who need advice. In some respects, though, this could be seen as the least worst option if the cash saved can be used to prop up the civil legal aid budget which is creaking under the strain of increased demand caused by the recession.
LAG is being told by legal aid lawyers that the Legal Services Commission has run out of money for civil cases. For £23m, 115,000 more clients in debt or 132,000 more clients with housing problems could be seen. LAG will be seeking assurances that this money will not disappear back into the Treasury's coffers, but will be used to help people cope with the effects of the recession.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Don't back down Bach!
In a meeting yesterday, the legal aid minister Lord Bach told leaders from groups representing legal aid lawyers that there would be no new cash for civil legal aid. This is despite growing evidence of the increasing numbers of people who need help with civil law problems.
LAG is hearing from practitioners that they are being refused permission to start new cases once they have reached the limit set by the Legal Services Commission. According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) there have been 20,000 more cases between April and August 2009 than in the same period last year. With four or five months being the likely wait for permission to take on new cases, the fear is that many clients needing help with problems caused by the recession will be cut off from getting legal advice.
Lord Bach told the meeting that the Treasury would 'laugh' if he approached it for more cash to fund the extra work needed. While LAG appreciates the difficult financial position the government is in, we do not believe that the MoJ should cower away from making its case for more money. It is an unfortunate, but wholly predictable, effect of the recession that the demand for civil legal aid has increased.
Civil legal aid should be seen as part of the welfare state's safety net to help people in these difficult times. Like other state benefits the government should meet the cost of these extra cases as as essential part of its response to helping people through the recession. The relatively paltry sum in government terms of £10 million could buy an extra 30,000 or more cases and bring justice to victims of this bank-inspired recession.
LAG is hearing from practitioners that they are being refused permission to start new cases once they have reached the limit set by the Legal Services Commission. According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) there have been 20,000 more cases between April and August 2009 than in the same period last year. With four or five months being the likely wait for permission to take on new cases, the fear is that many clients needing help with problems caused by the recession will be cut off from getting legal advice.
Lord Bach told the meeting that the Treasury would 'laugh' if he approached it for more cash to fund the extra work needed. While LAG appreciates the difficult financial position the government is in, we do not believe that the MoJ should cower away from making its case for more money. It is an unfortunate, but wholly predictable, effect of the recession that the demand for civil legal aid has increased.
Civil legal aid should be seen as part of the welfare state's safety net to help people in these difficult times. Like other state benefits the government should meet the cost of these extra cases as as essential part of its response to helping people through the recession. The relatively paltry sum in government terms of £10 million could buy an extra 30,000 or more cases and bring justice to victims of this bank-inspired recession.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Bar moves with the times
Historic reforms on the regulation of barristers were approved by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) last week. In response to mounting pressure the BSB (see previous blog 'Bar behind the times') has agreed that barristers should be allowed to establish partnerships with solicitors and with other barristers. The rule change ends 800 years of tradition.
Barristers were in danger of losing out to solicitors as without the change they would not have been permitted to join the new legal disciplinary practices (LDPs). LDPs allow legal and other professionals to form partnerships and permit 25 per cent ownership by non-lawyers. In LAG’s view it makes sense that barristers can now bring their advocacy expertise to such partnerships as this will enhance the service to clients and hopefully reduce costs.
LAG believes that some chambers might move to form LDPs or other legal entities to enable them to compete for blocks of work from the Legal Services Commission and other organisations. The rule changes also alter the role of self-employed barristers as they will now be able to take witness statements, correspond with clients and provide advice in police stations (although this would rule them out of representing the client in court).
There will inevitably be some blurring of the distinction between solicitors and barristers with these rule changes. They could be a major stepping stone on the road to a unified legal profession. The Bar will only survive by maintaining its reputation for providing independent specialist advocacy services.
Barristers were in danger of losing out to solicitors as without the change they would not have been permitted to join the new legal disciplinary practices (LDPs). LDPs allow legal and other professionals to form partnerships and permit 25 per cent ownership by non-lawyers. In LAG’s view it makes sense that barristers can now bring their advocacy expertise to such partnerships as this will enhance the service to clients and hopefully reduce costs.
LAG believes that some chambers might move to form LDPs or other legal entities to enable them to compete for blocks of work from the Legal Services Commission and other organisations. The rule changes also alter the role of self-employed barristers as they will now be able to take witness statements, correspond with clients and provide advice in police stations (although this would rule them out of representing the client in court).
There will inevitably be some blurring of the distinction between solicitors and barristers with these rule changes. They could be a major stepping stone on the road to a unified legal profession. The Bar will only survive by maintaining its reputation for providing independent specialist advocacy services.
Monday, 9 November 2009
LSC clamps down on claims
In October 2009, the National Audit Office published a critical report on the Legal Services Commission's (LSC's) overpayment of solicitors and other legal aid providers. According to the report, £24.7 million was overclaimed in 2008/09. The auditors found that providers had failed to give sufficient evidence on the case file to support the level of claim or demonstrate that the client was eligible for legal aid.
Immigration cases were highlighted in the report. The auditors reported that there were a number of incidents in which practitioners charged the higher asylum case rate when the lower immigration one should have been claimed. The largest amount of overpayments, £10.5 million, was in immigration and family cases.
Speaking at the first meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid on 3 November, the LSC's chief executive Carolyn Regan blamed problems with the LSC's manual system of case file administration for the overpayments. She said that it is due to be replaced with a computerised system. She also pointed out that the figure for the overpayments was only 1.2 per cent of the total fund.
In a move which LAG believes is related to the National Audit Office report, the LSC has announced a clamp down on legal aid providers opening case files for 'recurring clients'. It is asking 100 legal aid providers to look at ten per cent of their cases in which a client has had more than one file opened in the last six months. It is threatening to recoup any money it believes has been wrongly claimed for such cases.
In LAG's view, many of the problems which the LSC has experienced with overclaiming can be resolved with a computerised system. Similarly, claims for the same client, but with different problems, can be tracked more effectively with such a system. Let us hope that the LSC gets the computer system right this time - its record so far has not been good. The LSC Online system failed in November 2007 and had to be suspended, meaning that providers had wasted many hours completing electronic returns.
But we would argue that verifying clients' income will continue to cause problems regardless of any improvements to the administration of the system. The reality is that dealing with clients who often have chaotic lives inevitably leads to difficulties in getting them to produce the relevant pieces of paper to prove their entitlement to legal aid.
As regards multiple cases, while there might be some overclaiming, the vast majority of such claims are justified as everyone involved in legal aid policy agrees that many civil legal aid clients face clusters of problems. We would argue that claims for the same clients in multiple areas of law are a sign that legal aid providers are giving the joined-up service which clients need.
Immigration cases were highlighted in the report. The auditors reported that there were a number of incidents in which practitioners charged the higher asylum case rate when the lower immigration one should have been claimed. The largest amount of overpayments, £10.5 million, was in immigration and family cases.
Speaking at the first meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid on 3 November, the LSC's chief executive Carolyn Regan blamed problems with the LSC's manual system of case file administration for the overpayments. She said that it is due to be replaced with a computerised system. She also pointed out that the figure for the overpayments was only 1.2 per cent of the total fund.
In a move which LAG believes is related to the National Audit Office report, the LSC has announced a clamp down on legal aid providers opening case files for 'recurring clients'. It is asking 100 legal aid providers to look at ten per cent of their cases in which a client has had more than one file opened in the last six months. It is threatening to recoup any money it believes has been wrongly claimed for such cases.
In LAG's view, many of the problems which the LSC has experienced with overclaiming can be resolved with a computerised system. Similarly, claims for the same client, but with different problems, can be tracked more effectively with such a system. Let us hope that the LSC gets the computer system right this time - its record so far has not been good. The LSC Online system failed in November 2007 and had to be suspended, meaning that providers had wasted many hours completing electronic returns.
But we would argue that verifying clients' income will continue to cause problems regardless of any improvements to the administration of the system. The reality is that dealing with clients who often have chaotic lives inevitably leads to difficulties in getting them to produce the relevant pieces of paper to prove their entitlement to legal aid.
As regards multiple cases, while there might be some overclaiming, the vast majority of such claims are justified as everyone involved in legal aid policy agrees that many civil legal aid clients face clusters of problems. We would argue that claims for the same clients in multiple areas of law are a sign that legal aid providers are giving the joined-up service which clients need.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Contract rounds get green light
As expected the announcement of the civil family fee scheme yesterday (see below) has triggered the announcement of the delayed timetable for the civil bid rounds. The immigration bid round is intended to start at the end of November and the bid round for other civil work is planned for the week beginning 8 February 2010. The new civil contract will commence on 1 October 2010.
The Legal Services Commission has also made an announcement on the criminal contracts. The tender for the best value tendering police station and magistrates' courts pilots in Avon and Somerset and Greater Manchester is now scheduled to start in the week beginning 4 January 2010 and the auction stage will go ahead in March 2010. The new criminal contract will commence in July 2010.
LAG believes it is good that legal aid providers have got some certainty now about the bid rounds, but if the Bar takes action to delay the implementation of the family fees this could lead to a further postponement of the civil contracts. With a general election certain next spring the temptation might be to try and seek a delay, hoping that it can renegotiate with a new government. Criminal legal aid firms also need to know the results of the consultation on fee cuts, which is due to end on 12 November, before they can make any decisions on bidding for police station work (see 'Criminal delay' blog below).
The Legal Services Commission has also made an announcement on the criminal contracts. The tender for the best value tendering police station and magistrates' courts pilots in Avon and Somerset and Greater Manchester is now scheduled to start in the week beginning 4 January 2010 and the auction stage will go ahead in March 2010. The new criminal contract will commence in July 2010.
LAG believes it is good that legal aid providers have got some certainty now about the bid rounds, but if the Bar takes action to delay the implementation of the family fees this could lead to a further postponement of the civil contracts. With a general election certain next spring the temptation might be to try and seek a delay, hoping that it can renegotiate with a new government. Criminal legal aid firms also need to know the results of the consultation on fee cuts, which is due to end on 12 November, before they can make any decisions on bidding for police station work (see 'Criminal delay' blog below).
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Family fees announced
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has today announced the fees for family cases. These had been subject to intense negotiations with representatives from legal aid providers. If publication of the fees had been delayed the whole bid round process for civil legal aid might have been put in jeopardy. But the fees could still be subject to a legal challenge.
Family cases take up over half of all expenditure on civil legal aid. It would have been difficult for firms to bid for contracts in the other areas of civil law without knowing the fees for family work. Hourly rates for advocacy will be abolished under the scheme and a system of standard fees will be introduced.
Barristers stand to lose out on the fees as while the government claims that the overall budget for family cases will stay the same the amounts paid to barristers will go down. The intention, the government says, is to pay the same to solicitors and barristers for the work. LAG understands that there is much disagreement over the data on which the new fees are based and that the Bar had wanted further time for analysis of this.
Fees for private law family work (mainly divorce and custody matters) have been subject to bitter wrangling behind the scenes and some practitioners are questioning the viability of the proposed fees. The government will wait with bated breath to see if the Bar will move to bring a judicial review to challenge the scheme and risk derailing the civil contract bid rounds.
Family cases take up over half of all expenditure on civil legal aid. It would have been difficult for firms to bid for contracts in the other areas of civil law without knowing the fees for family work. Hourly rates for advocacy will be abolished under the scheme and a system of standard fees will be introduced.
Barristers stand to lose out on the fees as while the government claims that the overall budget for family cases will stay the same the amounts paid to barristers will go down. The intention, the government says, is to pay the same to solicitors and barristers for the work. LAG understands that there is much disagreement over the data on which the new fees are based and that the Bar had wanted further time for analysis of this.
Fees for private law family work (mainly divorce and custody matters) have been subject to bitter wrangling behind the scenes and some practitioners are questioning the viability of the proposed fees. The government will wait with bated breath to see if the Bar will move to bring a judicial review to challenge the scheme and risk derailing the civil contract bid rounds.
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