Proposed Legal Aid cuts could cost £139 million, report suggests
10th January 2012
Independent research conducted by Kings College London suggests that the government’s planned legal aid cuts will save less than half the amount predicted, and in some areas could cost vastly more in knock-on costs than is saved.
The planned cuts include a reduction in fees paid to legal aid law firms and a reduction in scope – with areas including clinical negligence and employment law being removed altogether and along with significant reductions in scope for family law and other areas of social welfare law. Eligibility criteria for individuals may also be tightened, meaning that many who currently qualify for legal aid will not under the new proposals.
The report, "Unintended Consequences: the cost of the Government's Legal Aid Reforms", published yesterday, looked at the planned cuts to provision in private family law, social welfare law and clinical negligence. These areas account for 85% of the proposed savings which according to the government should total around £239 million. The findings of the Kings College team conducting the research suggested almost 60% of these savings could be wiped out in knock-on costs.
The Law Society, which commissioned the report, commented on its website yesterday that the proposed cuts "will incur new costs for the taxpayer by simply shifting the burden onto other parts of the public purse".
The key findings of the report include:
- Knock-on costs could be in the region of £139 million per year, which means the savings may in reality be only 42% of the predicted amount
- Around £80 million per year in costs could be passed from the Ministry of Justice to other government departments
- A massive increase to the number of couples entering family mediation, at a cost of more than £42 million a year
- A greatly increased demand for alternative sources of advice which could cost £53 million a year
- A substantial increase in litigation costs to the NHS as a result of clinical negligence work being taken out of scope
The report also states that "numerous costs could not be estimated", including costs related to "reduced social cohesion, increased criminality, [and] reduced business and economic efficiency".
The report is particularly damning with regard to the proposed end to legal aid funding for clinical negligence claims. The proposed savings of £10.5 million could produce £28 million in knock-on costs to the NHS, which would be forced to purchase 'after the event' insurance to cover the potential costs of successful negligence claims.
Peter Walsh, Chief Executive of Patients' charity, Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) commented: "Cutting legal aid for clinical negligence is just bonkers whichever way you look at it. Either the Government is being deeply cynical and people injured by clinical negligence simply won't be able to access justice, or the taxpayer and the NHS will be hit hard at a time it can least afford it."
Family Law is one of the most significantly affected areas, and is expected to generate 60% of the savings through the reduction of the scope of legal aid - around £170 million. Under the proposals, all private family law cases will be removed from scope unless they involve child parties, child abuse or domestic violence. The government expects the uptake of family mediation to increase as a result, citing an increased cost of £6-10 million. The report suggests the expected mediation uptake is underestimated, citing a figure of costs for mediation of more than £48 million than predicted. The family justice system could be subject to increased costs, the report also suggests, due to an increased number of litigants-in-person.
Crucially, the report also highlights the potential impact on individuals who will no longer be eligible for legal aid, suggesting many people may give up on trying to get advice, which "may generate or prolong adverse consequences including mental and physical health problems". For people with family law problems, this cost is estimated at £263 per person.
The The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill is being debated today [10th January] in the House of Lords.
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