Westminster update: lord chancellor gives update on legal aid funding

Government announces increase to criminal legal aid rates

The government has announced a 6% increase in criminal legal aid rates.

Our president Richard Atkinson said:

"This is a welcome step forward that gives solicitors hope that there is a future in providing this vital public service, but it is only a step.

"While this means solicitors will have received the 15% recommended by the Bellamy Review in full and a little more, inflation means we are still not where Bellamy said we need to be.

"We are pleased to see this signal change from a new government which is demonstrating a commitment to rebuilding the ailing justice system."

Lord chancellor gives update on legal aid funding

On Tuesday 17 December, the lord chancellor Shabana Mahmood gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee on her first six months in office.

She outlined how the backlog in the courts, legal aid funding and the crisis in prisons is being addressed.

Mahmood said she was deeply concerned about the impact the backlog is having on victims and everyone else within the justice system.

The backlog has grown beyond the point where funding more sitting days is enough to address it. Instead, Mahmood wants to use the Leverson review to come up with solutions to address the backlog while maintaining access to justice.

On legal aid funding, the lord chancellor acknowledged the “bit of history” the previous government had with the legal profession. She said she is doing everything she can to put the system on a sustainable footing.

Mahmood pointed to additional funding for criminal and civil legal aid. She said she hoped to bring further funding forward, hinting at Friday's criminal legal aid announcement.

Finally, Mahmood spent a significant amount of the session discussing the prisons crisis.

She acknowledged that it will be difficult to build our way out of the crisis. She said this is why the sentencing review will play a significant role in addressing the lack of prison places across England and Wales.

Data bill: Law Society concerns raised

On Monday 16 December, peers raised our concerns and amendments during the final committee stage proceedings for the Data (Use and Access) Bill.

Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat) spoke on his amendment 125 (suggested by the Law Society) to re-raise his previous amendment during the passage of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill requiring the government to publish an assessment of the Bill’s impact on EU-UK data adequacy within six months of the act passing.

Amendment 125 to this bill is similar, except that it says the assessment should take place before the next reassessment of data adequacy, set for June 2025.

Representing the government, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch attempted to reassure the house that the bill has been designed with EU adequacy in mind. However, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd (Crossbench) expressed disappointment with the minister’s response to Amendment 125.

He argued that a thorough review should take place before any issues arise, rather than waiting to be found inadequate later.

Amendment 125 was not moved at this stage but remains on the books for future debate.

Lord Clement-Jones also proposed his amendment 108 to transfer the legal enforcement of data rights from the courts to specialised tribunals.

He mentioned that the motivation for this amendment stems from “recurring issues highlighted in cases such as Killock and Veale v the Information Commissioner and Delo v the Information Commissioner”.

These cases revealed scenarios where the Information Commissioner presented contradictory positions across different levels of the judiciary. This caused confusion and undermined the credibility of the regulatory framework governing data protection.

Representing the opposition, Viscount Camrose (Conservative) expressed reservations. He noted that courts have long-standing authority and expertise in adjudicating complex legal matters, including data protection cases. Removing these disputes from the courts could undermine the depth and breadth of legal oversight required in such critical areas.

The minister of state for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, Lord Vallance of Balham highlighted that there is currently a blend of authority under data protection legislation for both tribunals and courts, depending on the nature of the proceedings.

Amendment 108 was therefore withdrawn.

Lord Clement-Jones raised his amendment 110, supported by the Law Society. This seeks to add a new clause to ensure that human involvement is considered meaningful in the context of new Article 22A of the UK GDPR.

The amendment requires any review of automatic decision-making to be performed by a person with the necessary competence, training, authority to alter the decision and analytical understanding of the data.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch responded. She mentioned that the reforms included in the bill make clear that solely automated decisions lack meaningful human involvement, which goes beyond a tick-box exercise.

The guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office clarifies that “the human involvement has to be active and not just a token gesture”. This right is underpinned by the wording of the regulations.

Amendment 110 was therefore withdrawn.

Parliament approves UK-Switzerland agreement on recognising professional qualifications

This week both the Commons and the Lords debated and approved regulations which will bring the UK-Switzerland Recognition of Professional Qualifications Agreement into force.

The agreement signed by the UK and Switzerland in June 2023 recognising professional qualifications will now be implemented.

This agreement places a legal duty on UK regulators to recognise comparable Swiss professional qualifications and provide regulators with the necessary legal powers to do so.

In parallel, Switzerland is passing legislation requiring Swiss regulators to recognise UK qualifications. This means that UK professionals benefit from reduced barriers to working in Switzerland

These regulations are particularly important for the legal sector. They commit regulators in Switzerland to providing our members and other legal professionals with a clear and proportionate path to re-qualify in their respective legal professions.

We have long supported this and gave evidence to the International Agreements Committee last year.

We briefed ahead of this week’s debates and welcome the agreement. It protects the existing right for UK lawyers to re-qualify in Switzerland without having to obtain a Swiss law degree or sit any local exams in Switzerland.

The agreement reflects the priorities of the UK legal sector. It establishes a new blueprint that the UK can use in trade negotiations with other countries where re-qualification is a priority for, or interest of, the legal profession in the UK.

The trade minister Douglas Alexander led the debate in the Delegated Legislation Committee and confirmed that the agreement will come into force on 1 January 2025.

Coming up

We are working closely with MPs and peers to influence a number of bills before parliament:

• Arbitration Bill will have its second reading in the Commons on a date to be announced
• Data (Access and Use) Bill will have its report stage in the Lords on 21 January
• Employment Rights Bill began its committee stage in the Commons on 26 November
• Mental Health Bill begin its committee stage in the Lords on 14 January
• Product Regulation and Metrology Bill will begin its report stage in the Lords, date to be confirmed
• Renters Rights Bill will have its report stage in the Commons on a date to be announced