Tuesday 27 June 2000

Civil legal aid should become more accessible to more people with the introduction of a scheme to make it easier for people to pay their contribution, the Scottish Legal Aid Board announced today.

People who have been granted civil legal aid and have to pay a contribution of £500 or over will now be able to pay the contribution over a longer period. Currently contributions are paid over 10 months. From the beginning of July, contributions of £500 to £1,199 can be paid over 15 months and those over £1,200 can be paid over 20 months.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board will implement the new payment scheme from the beginning of July, following a decision by Jim Wallace, the Justice Minister, to allow the payment period to be extended.

The Board recently ran a pilot scheme to determine whether increasing the repayment period for contributions would result in more people accepting the offer of civil legal aid. In 1998/99, 1,704 people refused an offer of civil legal aid and a substantial proportion of these are likely to have been refused because of the level of repayments required. The Board's analysis of the results of the pilot scheme indicates an estimated 14% increase in the number of people accepting an offer of civil legal aid as a result of the extended repayment period.

The extended contributions payment period will apply to offers of civil legal aid made from the beginning of July. However, if anyone wants to pay an existing contribution over the longer period, provided the contribution is £500 or over, the Board will allow them to do so. Anyone who would like more information, should contact their solicitor or the Board.

Commenting on the announcement, Chairman Jean Couper said:
"The level of contributions payable in civil legal aid cases can be considerable and we were concerned that some people decided not to accept the offer of legal aid because of the amount to be paid each month. The Board carried out a pilot scheme to see the impact of allowing repayments to be made over a longer period and we are delighted that Jim Wallace accepted our case for contributions to be paid over 15 or 20 months. We believe that this will increase access to civil legal aid for many people in Scotland, and we will monitor the situation to fully assess the impact."

In 1998/99, the cost of legal aid in Scotland was £138 million, of which £32.1 million was spent on civil legal aid. The Board collected £9 million in contributions, expenses and amounts recovered from assisted persons following the successful outcome of their cases, giving a total cost to the taxpayer of £129 million. In that year, the Board received 23,890 applications for civil legal aid, of which 15,661 were granted. Of those granted, 3,080 included a contribution. The average value of the contribution payable was £653.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board is a non-departmental public body which assesses legal aid applications and scrutinises and pays accounts submitted by solicitors and advocates. It also provides advice to the Scottish Ministers on legal aid matters.

For further information please contact: Charlotte Townsend at the Scottish Legal Aid Board on 0131 226 7061.