How the UK government can support solicitors: autumn budget 2024

We’re calling for the UK government to use its autumn budget 2024 to:

1. invest in the Ministry of Justice to:
   • address the courts backlog
   • address the crisis in criminal and civil legal aid
   • implement stalled reforms to the legal aid means test
2. support small law firms to invest in skills and innovation through Skills England
3. maintain financial incentives so apprenticeships are viable for small law firms
4. help law firms address the cybersecurity challenge by expanding the Cyber Essentials Programme

Driving economic growth and prosperity

Legal services are an economic powerhouse, worth £60 billion each year to the UK economy.

The sector is a commercial force multiplier, as the advice solicitors provide is essential in allowing other businesses to function effectively, overcome day-to-day issues and focus on driving the economy.

As employers, law firms can be found in every region, city and town across the country, helping to break down barriers to opportunity. Over 1% of the UK workforce is employed by legal services.

The sector is also uniquely productive, with an average contribution per employee of £100,500 – almost double the national average.

The prosperity our sector creates is not limited to a single city or region. Growing legal hubs can be found from Bristol to Newcastle, creating secure, well-paid and skilled jobs for local people.

There are over 73,000 solicitors work outside London and this figure is growing, having increased by more than 16% between 2009 and 2019.

Beyond our own borders, legal services are a national champion and one of the UK’s most valuable exports.

The UK is the second largest legal market in the world, with total exports of UK legal services reaching £7.25 billion in 2022, while English law governs substantial amounts of global trading, including £545 trillion in over-the-counter derivatives transactions and £10 trillion in metals trading.

The value of the wider justice system

Meanwhile, our justice system and the lawyers within it are integral to keeping our streets and communities safe.

At the police station, duty solicitors provide representation, making sure cases move through the system quickly and that victims, witnesses and defendants alike can access justice.

However, backlogs in the courts, crumbling buildings and unsustainably low levels of legal aid funding all reverberate across our society.

The recent violent unrest emphasised how critical it is that our justice system can act and at pace, as a credible deterrent and keep people safe.

The challenges law firms face

We have commissioned research and analysis, carried out by YouGov and the Centre for Economic and Business Research, which highlighted the barriers legal businesses are facing in achieving their full economic potential.

This research revealed that the top issues facing SME firms are:

• recruitment and retention
• operational and financial costs
• technology and innovation

The package of reforms we’re advocating for is designed to build on the existing economic strengths of our sector, while unleashing the latent productivity and economic potential of the sizeable SME segment of the legal services sector.