First increase to civil legal aid fees in nearly 30 years welcomed, but still more to do says Law Society

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has today announced a £20 million investment to increase civil legal aid fees for immigration and housing, marking the first increase for any civil legal aid providers since the mid-nineties.

We welcome the increase to legal aid rates, however, this must be followed with a commitment to much needed investment in other areas of civil and criminal legal aid, which are vital public services.

Our president Richard Atkinson said: “Legal aid should be a pillar of public services nationwide and unfair treatment in our justice system harms us all.

“It is encouraging to see that the government has increased hourly rates by at least 10%, and in a few instances by up to 40%, recognising the importance of investing in civil legal aid to level the playing field for those seeking access to justice.

“Better availability of legal advice protects all people and communities and reduces the strain on other public services.

“This investment will help ease the huge asylum backlog, ensuring the efficient running of the system in a way that gets the right decision at the earliest opportunity.

“The investment in housing legal aid, and the further investment we hope to see in the near future, is vital to enable often the most vulnerable in society to have the advice that they need to access justice, which is fundamental to the collective good of society.

“Underfunding our justice system denies us a vital public service. The government must now continue acting for the common good and invest across all areas of civil legal aid.

“This will ensure representation for families fighting eviction, tackling housing disrepair or a survivor of abuse seeking protection from a violent partner.

“The ministry needs to restart the review of civil legal aid and provide a timetable for further investment, as well as steps to reduce the cost of delivering legal aid services, setting out a clear vision for putting this public service on a sustainable footing.”

We commissioned research by Frontier Economics* which demonstrates the benefits of investment in legal advice to reduce the strain on public services. The research shows that:

• nearly half of the population in England and Wales (25.3 million) do not have access to a local legal aid provider for housing advice. This is due to the diminished number of housing legal aid providers

• investment in housing legal aid will help people solve their housing problems before they escalate and risk homelessness and health problems. Approximately 10% of all rental properties in the UK have significant disrepair issues, which is estimated to cost the NHS £355 million each year

• if reforms to housing legal aid reduced significant housing disrepair by just 5%, the savings to the NHS could be more than £15 million each year

Notes to editors

* Read the Frontier Economics final report on the Implications of research on the sustainability of civil legal aid.

Read more about Civil legal aid: sustainability research.

About the Law Society

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Press office contact: Floyd Alexander-Hunt | 0203 657 0113