General election: getting your voice heard
It’s official: there will be a general election on 4 July.
The coming weeks will see political parties and parliamentary candidates engaging with constituents and canvassing in their local areas.
With the election timing coming as a surprise, now is the opportune moment to ask your local candidates about their justice policies and to give them statistics and suggestions.
How can I engage with candidates in the election?
Reach out to everyone!
During a general election campaign, it is well worth trying to speak to all the main party candidates to see what each are offering the justice system.
Even if you know who you are likely to vote for, by reaching out to all candidates in your area you can help to maintain pressure on political parties to act to support the justice system.
All candidates will have a website with their contact details. Reach out and drop them an email or give their office a call.
Introduce yourself and let them know you want to talk about the justice system locally, legal services or the work you and your firm do across the constituency.
You can find your candidate at https://whocanivotefor.co.uk.
Meet with facts and stats ready
Is your area a legal aid desert? What do legal services need to help grow the economy? What makes the UK a global legal centre?
Candidates will want to hear the stats, facts and figures behind the issues you are talking about.
Being able to explain that over 1% of the UK workforce is employed by legal services demonstrates the amount of people that have an interested in strong justice commitments.
Candidates and local parties are always on the lookout for data and stats they can trust and use themselves in promoting their cause.
Luckily, the Law Society has published a whole range of legal aid desert maps, data on legal services and insights on our role as a global legal centre that will help land your argument.
We are also a well-trusted source of verified information on the justice system. Candidates can be confident in quoting our data.
See our key statistics below to either use in your questions to candidates, or to present them to demonstrate the issues.
Check our website or get in touch if there is any information you need on our justice system or legal services that is not included here.
Catch them at your home
Both candidates and local party representatives will be canvassing people’s houses over the next month, to hear your thoughts and talk about their manifesto pledges.
This is a time where you have a captive audience to discuss justice issues and to hear what promises parties are making.
You can provide these individuals with fact sheets and statistics for them to take back to the local party and to HQ. They will want to share internally that people are bringing up justice issues on the door.
Get a photo and shout about it
Candidates will want to shout about who they are talking to and show they are listening to their future constituents.
Take a photo and put a message out on social media that you’re talking to prospective MPs about their plans for the local area and the justice system.
Candidates will often repost such messages, so they will reach a wider audience.
Stay in touch
Once you’ve met a candidate, make sure you stay in touch. The relationships and connections you make will be helpful if they are elected and you want to work with them once in Parliament.
MPs are busy people and they’ll be more likely to respond to a person they remember who they’ve been speaking with since their campaign.
A short while after the election, it’s well worth asking to meet with them, either in Westminster or in the constituency, to talk about their priorities and your areas of interest.
Host a hustings
If you run a firm or are a local law society and have a good-sized meeting space, you can host a hustings, giving all the candidates running in your constituency the chance to debate each other and address voters.
This will give you a great opportunity to meet all the candidates running and also let you and local residents hear from them too.
It also means that you can chair the discussion and put justice specific questions to the panel of candidates.
We would be happy to support you if you need any advice or guidance with how to set up a husting as they can be complex to set up.
A great place to start is taking a look at the hustings guidance from the Electoral Commission.
Let the Law Society know
If you’ve had a meeting or a good discussion with your local candidates let us know!
We track which MPs are interested in legal services and it will help our engagement after the election to know who you’ve been talking to, which new MPs care most about justice issues or have an interest in legal services.
We can also follow up on the conversations you’ve had and the issues you’ve raised in our regular political engagement work.
Key statistics to bring to the candidates attention
Court backlogs
By the end of 2023, the outstanding caseload in Crown Courts in England and Wales had increased to its highest ever level on record.
The number of ineffective trials – listed trials that do not go ahead on the day scheduled – has been increasing, lengthening case times and contributing to an increase in the backlog.
- Crown Court: in January 2024, the Crown Court backlog stood at 66,468 cases, up from 60,709 in January 2023
- Magistrates’ courts: in January 2024, there were 378,289 outstanding cases in the magistrates’ court, up from 338,773 in January 2023
- Family courts: March figures published by the Ministry of Justice show that the family courts continue to face unacceptable backlogs leaving more than 100,000 children, along with their families, at the mercy of a broken justice system
- Rape and sexual assault: there has been a 346% increase in the number of adult rape cases in the Crown Court outstanding caseload (from 624 to 2,786) between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023, following the MoJ’s efforts to increase the number of rape cases heard
- Case length: the average time taken from offence to case completion in the Crown Court has increased from 486 days in the last quarter of 2019 to 683 days for the three months to December 2023. 16,005 people are remanded in prison and waiting for trial (two-thirds) or sentencing (one-third), with 2023 recording the highest level for at least 50 years
- Unavailable professionals: 1,436 trials were cancelled on the hearing day in 2023 because all legal professionals required were not available, up from 71 in 2019
- Probate: the increased death rate caused by COVID-19 led to an increased number of probate applications, adding further pressure to the service. We recognise HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) efforts to keep the service operational during the unprecedented challenges. However, it is clear they did not have the necessary resources to respond effectively
Criminal legal aid/duty solicitors
Duty solicitors in England and Wales are on call day and night to offer on demand legal representation at police stations.
However, the workforce is getting older, and many legal aid lawyers are leaving criminal defence work because it’s no longer financially viable.
This lack of confidence in the field also deters many young solicitors from joining the sector, leading over time to an older workforce.
These older professionals are leaving the sector and are not being replaced, which is leading to a steady decline of the profession.
If this trend continues, whole areas of the country will be without a duty solicitor.
- The number of duty solicitors providing representation at police stations has fallen by 1,446 since 2017 – a 26% drop
- Fewer than 4% of duty solicitors are under 35 years old
- The average age of a criminal duty solicitor was 49 in England and Wales in 2021. In many regions, it’s even higher
- In Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, East Sussex, Lincolnshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire, over 60% of duty solicitors are aged over 50
Civil legal aid
Across England and Wales, millions of people have no access to local civil legal aid advice in their local authority area.
Years of underfunding have forced firms and practitioners to leave the sector, creating legal aid deserts.
In February 2024, we updated our five heat maps, showing the shortage of providers across the country.
You can check the maps to see the exact number of providers that your area has, which will be of interest to the candidates.
Civil legal aid is a fundamental pillar of access to justice in the UK. It allows working people, with no other recourse for justice, to obtain the advice and representation they need when things go wrong.
For instance, housing legal aid can prove to be the difference for someone facing homelessness in cases of unfair eviction.
- Fees paid for civil legal aid work have not risen in 28 years
- 70.8% of the population of England and Wales do not have access to a community care legal aid provider
- 84.9% of the population of England and Wales do not have access to a welfare legal aid provider
- 43.6% of the population of England and Wales do not have a housing legal aid provider
- 90% of the population of England and Wales do not have an education legal aid provider in their local authority area: that’s over 53 million people
Litigants in person
Because of legal aid deserts across the country, many cannot access a lawyer or legal advice and so are forced to represent themselves in court without any support or guidance.
- The number of cases where neither party is represented has trebled over the last decade
- Judges have estimated cases involving litigants in person take 50% longer on average
Selling the profession: the benefits that legal services bring
- The legal services sector adds £60 billion to the economy every year
- Over 1% of the UK workforce is employed by legal services. The sector also has an average contribution per employee of £100,500 – almost double the national average
- The UK’s total exports for legal services reached £6.64 billion in 2021 and have grown since
- England and Wales is the jurisdiction of choice for international business deals. The international prestige of English common law forms the basis of the legal systems for 27% of the world’s 320 jurisdictions
- London remains the most attractive centre for commercial litigation and international arbitration, attracting international business into the UK
- There are over 73,000 solicitors working outside London and this figure is increasing, having increased by more than 16% between 2009 and 2019. Growing legal hubs can be found from Bristol to Newcastle, spreading the benefits of the sector throughout the UK
- A Law Society survey of 656 solicitors found that 60% intend to use LawTech more frequently in the next five years. Over 50% agreed that lawtech will increase their productivity
What sort of questions should I be asking?
Court backlogs
You might want to ask why the backlogs are so high, and how their party intends to reduce this backlog and case lengths.
- In January 2024, the Crown Court backlog stood at 66,468 cases, up from 60,709 in January 2023. They are up year on year. What plan does your party have to tackle this backlog and ensure people get access to justice on some of the most serious issues?
- The average time taken from offence to case completion in the Crown Court has increased to 683 days (December 2023). How committed is your party to lessen the time people are waiting for justice and how would you go about this?
- There has been a 346% increase in the number of adult rape cases in the Crown Court outstanding caseload (from 624 to 2,786) between 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2023. Why is that and what can be done to tackle this large number of people who are not getting justice for some of the worst crimes?
- 1,436 trials cancelled on the hearing day in 2023 because all legal professionals required were not available, up from 71 in 2019. How would your party ensure there are legal professionals available to support people in court and ensure cases go ahead?
Criminal legal aid/duty solicitors
You might want to point out the diminishing numbers of duty solicitors and how the profession will die out if incentives for younger solicitors are not provided.
- Tackling crime is an important issue, but without duty solicitors police can’t interview every suspect of a crime. The number of duty solicitors providing representation at police stations has fallen by 1,446 since 2017 – a 26% drop. How have you considered this in your crime plan?
- Fewer than 4% of duty solicitors are under 35 years old. Younger solicitors do not want to join this line of work because of how low the rates of pay are. What commitments can you make to revive this necessary workforce?
Civil legal aid
You might want to ask about the huge swathes of the UK that do not have legal aid providers in education, housing, immigration or welfare.
- The fees paid for civil legal aid work have not risen in 28 years. What funding commitments can you make for the next parliament?
- Access to justice is being denied to people who can’t afford to pay for legal representation. It is also being denied to people who are geographically disadvantaged and do not have access to legal aid providers. How will you tackle both of these issues?
Litigants in person
You might want to talk about the burden on the court timetable that LIPs create, and also how people feel they have no other options due to financial constraints.
- In your manifesto planning, have you considered how litigants in person are adding to the backlog of cases? How do you intend to ensure people don’t feel they have to represent themselves in court due to lack of support or funds?
- The number of cases where neither party is represented has trebled over the last decade. Why do you think this is and what are your plans to turn this around?
Selling the profession: the benefits that legal services bring
You might want to ask about levelling up around the country; how legal services can be used in economic growth; and what their offer is to legal professionals.
- Over 1% of the UK workforce is employed by legal services. What is your offer to legal professionals?
- There are over 73,000 solicitors working outside London and this figure is increasing, having increased by more than 16% between 2009 and 2019. How are you going to provide support for legal professionals outside the capital?
- Has your party considered the huge contribution that legal services make to the economy, and how this might be harnessed to grow the economy further?
Find out more
As your professional body, defending the rule of law and championing your interests are at the core of our work.
Explore our guide on how you can ask your local candidates about their justice policies (PDF 158 KB)