NAO report says Ministry of Justice on track to make significant legal aid cost savings, but it did not fully consider the impact of the changes
The National Audit Office (NAO) today released a report on the implementation of reforms to the civil legal aid system.
You can read the 47-page report here.
The NAO says that while the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is on track to make significant and quick reductions in its spending on civil legal aid, it is less clear to what extent it has met its objective of targeting legal aid at those who need it most.
A press release accompanying the report says the MoJ did not think through early enough the impact of the changes on the wider system, and does not know whether people who are eligible for legal aid are able to get it.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, was quoted as saying: "The Ministry of Justice is on track to make significant and quick reductions in its spending on civil legal aid. However, it has been slower to think through how and why people access civil legal aid; the scale of the additional costs to the Ministry likely to be generated by people choosing to represent themselves; and the impact on the ability and willingness of providers to provide legal services for the fees paid. Without this understanding, the Ministry's implementation of the reforms to civil legal aid cannot be said to have delivered better overall value for money for the taxpayer."
The NAO report recommends that the MoJ develop measures to evaluate more fully the impact of the reforms.
Following the report, Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts, released a statement saying the MoJ is making cuts "without knowing what the knock on effects might be for other organisations and people needing advice," and it is "out of touch with reality and has shown no understanding of the wider cost of its reforms."
She added: "Nobody knows whether demand for civil legal aid is being met. There is uneven provision of civil legal aid, with no providers in 14 local authority areas starting face-to-face advice in the year after the reforms. The Ministry has no idea whether this is because no one in these areas is eligible for legal aid, or because they're entitled to it but can't get it. The vast majority (92%) of Citizens Advice Bureaux are finding it hard to refer people to the legal advice they need."
A spokesman for the MoJ told BBC News that the Government had "no choice but to find significant savings" at a time of financial crisis. "This was never going to be an easy process, but we have made the necessary reductions whilst ensuring legal aid remains available where people most need legal help," the spokesman said.
The BBC's legal affairs correspondent said the Government is well on its way to achieving its savings target, despite the reforms costing an additional £3.4 million a year, but the real cost is a sharp rise in those with little choice but to represent themselves.