Westminster update: criminal legal aid funding cannot be a one-off

Legal Aid Agency data breach

Action must be taken to get the legal aid system back online following a cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency (LAA).

To ensure it never happens again, we recommended 10 steps for the LAA and Ministry of Justice to take to resolve the breach.

Criminal legal aid: additional funding welcomed but cannot be a one-off

We welcomed Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to increase funding for criminal legal aid fee schemes, which followed a government consultation.

The fee scheme reform proposals will see an overall 12% increase for work done by providers at police stations, magistrates courts, the Crown Court and prisons.

In the response, we see this as a positive step, but highlight that inflation creates concerns about whether the new funding will be enough for criminal legal aid firms to sustain themselves and attract newcomers to the profession.

We call for the government to introduce:

• interim payments for magistrates’ court work
• enhanced police station fees for out of hours work and complex cases, and
• other steps to make sure the funding has the most meaningful impact

We also want annual cost of living increases to be put in place to show the government’s long-term commitment to the sector.

Family courts: MP highlights importance of engaging with Law Society

Last Monday 23 June, deputy director of the family justice system at the MoJ Luke Taylor noted the importance of engaging with the sector and the Law Society during a Public Accounts Committee oral evidence session on the family courts.

The panel of senior officials included interim permanent secretary to the MoJ Amy Rees, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) CEO Nick Goodwin, and Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) CEO Jacky Tiotto.

During questioning on the government’s support for alternative dispute resolution and mediation, Rachel Gilmour MP (Liberal Democrat) asked the panel how well and often senior officials meet with the Law Society, whose members “are your foot soldiers on the frontline”.

Taylor replied that there are clearly “questions about how we engage the sector”. He noted several channels that they use to reach the sector, such as through the Family Mediation Council.

Taylor noted that the panel are "happy to take on board other ways we can engage with legal reps, but that is part of the conversations that we are having at the moment”.

Sarah Hall MP (Labour) questioned permanent secretary Amy Rees about the LAA data breach.

Rees explained the immediate steps to mitigate the breach, stating that the government is currently considering whether to fix the legacy systems or move to new systems to prevent future incidents.

Sarah Olney MP (Liberal Democrat) raised concerns about the ongoing backlogs in family courts.

Rees and Goodwin highlighted several factors for these delays, including capacity issues, increased demand, case complexity, and productivity challenges.

They acknowledged that while there have been improvements in reducing the backlog, further progress is still needed to ensure timely justice.

Court (Remote Hearing) Bill debated

A government-supported private members' bill has been brought forward to make technical changes to remote hearings.

Oliver Ryan MP (Labour) opened the debate on Wednesday 2 July, highlighting that his bill to expand the use of remote hearings will deliver “swifter access to justice” and use the “court estate efficiently”, during committee stage for the Courts (Remote Hearing) Bill.

The bill creates two case categories to be heard remotely: those in breach of some injunctions and orders in county and family courts, and persistent defaulters on orders to pay council tax.

Ryan acknowledged HMCTS’ concerns of remote hearings after their usage during the coronavirus pandemic.

He addressed this by noting that the bill does not mandate remote hearings, but that “it enables a defendant or debtor to attend a court in person or by live video or audio link at judicial discretion”.

The minister for courts and legal services Sarah Sackman further explained that the bill will mean that potentially violent individuals can be dealt with “quickly and efficiently”.

However, the minister also assured members that “despite these new powers, the number of hearings in either type of case is not expected to rise”.

This casts doubt on how much these measures are needed, but Sackman balanced this against the need for more flexibility.

The bill will now move to report stage, and we will continue to track its passage.

Coming up

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