Glimmer of hope for legal aid as cuts postponed

Campaigners against the government's legal aid cuts have been given a glimmer of hope as the Ministry of Justice announced a six-month delay in the implementation of the civil legal aid cuts and a two-year postponement of competitive tendering for criminal work.

While the Law Society welcomed the move as 'sensible', Steve Hynes, director of the Legal Action Group, said the delays represented a 'personal defeat' for justice secretary Ken Clarke and minister Jonathan Djanogly.

Hynes said the announcements to push implementation of the cuts back from October 2012 to April 2013 and postpone a consultation on competitive tendering until the autumn of that year amounted to a setback for the government.

'From everything I understand, the MoJ was pushing very hard for implementation in October to meet the department's cuts target,' he said.

'This is a personal defeat for Djanogly and Clarke. I think the LSC has been telling them that it is very hard to implement the cuts within the deadlines.

'They've seen how it is going in the Lords so far. They will definitely have problems getting the bill through and it will go to the wire.'

On the delay to competitive tendering for criminal work, Hynes said the result was a 'political climbdown' and it was an 'absolute red herring' to blame it on the introduction of ABSs early next year.

Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society, described postponing implementation as a 'sensible decision', though the new timetable remained challenging.

He said the society was already working with the LSC on issues that must be resolved to produce a 'workable system' from the proposals in the bill.

'Like other small businesses, law firms need reasonable notice of changes affecting them,' he said.

Hudson added that criminal defence firms would be grateful for the certainty that they have been given for the next three years by the postponement of competitive tendering.

'In particular, firms that do both criminal and civil work will be glad only to have to consider changes in one part of the business over the next 18 months.'

David Allison, chair of Resolution, said it was important to remember that the MoJ's announcement was a delay in implementation, rather than a significant policy change.

'Nevertheless, we hope that the government will take this opportunity to think again about the legal aid bill.

'We know that around 90 per cent of divorce cases are resolved outside the courtroom, but in most cases this can only happen with the support of lawyers.'

Peter Lodder QC, chairman of the Bar Council, said the Bar would retain its 'principled opposition to, and continue to lobby against' many of the proposals in the bill.

'We welcome the MoJ's decision to postpone the consultation on Criminal Defence Service price-based competition proposals until 2013, which also postpones the prospect of introducing a new regime until 2015 at the earliest.

'The Bar has repeatedly argued for the need to maintain high-quality advocacy, in the public interest, especially during this time of acute fiscal austerity and as significant changes in the provision of legal services are being made.'

A spokesman for the MoJ said the decision to push back implementation of the cuts was to allow 12 months for a full tender process to take place 'once parliament has confirmed the precise content of the bill'.

He said the earliest date the bill could receive Royal Assent was March 2012, and there needed to be clarity about the content of secondary legislation relevant to the contract process.

This was particularly necessary for the abolition of the LSC and its replacement with an executive agency, cuts in the scope of civil legal aid, introduction of a compulsory telephone gateway and the revised eligibility criteria.