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Over 400,000 legal aid grants made, as costs increase to £150 million Monday 1 October 2007 During a year where major changes and developments were made to improve legal aid, people benefited from 408,654 grants of legal assistance, the Scottish Legal Aid Board said today on publication of its annual report for 2006-2007. The cost to the taxpayer of legal aid was £150.2 million, an increase of 2% or £2.3 million. The increase reverses the fall in costs seen the previous year and has brought spending to the second highest ever level. The increase in the overall cost of legal aid was mainly due to higher costs for criminal legal aid, which increased 3% to £92.7 million. There was also a 5% increase in the cost of civil legal aid to £19.8 million – the first rise in the cost of civil legal aid for three years. The increases in the cost of criminal legal aid is due to higher volumes of summary and solemn – for the most serious charges – cases and a higher number of high cost solemn cases. The Board reports that the year saw significant developments to legal aid, which are bringing improvements to the legal aid system. The key change was the Scottish Parliament passing the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 which gives powers that will increase access to justice. Significant progress was also made in legal aid reforms, developing criminal legal assistance reforms, legal aid fees and simplifying civil legal assistance. Iain A Robertson CBE, Chairman of the Scottish Legal Aid Board said: “We are committed to playing a major role in the modernisation of the justice system and to increasing access to justice. In what has been a busy and exciting year, the Scottish Parliament agreed the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 which will increase access to justice. We are now playing our part in the implementing the Act and other reforms on behalf of Scottish Ministers. We are also modernising how legal aid operates through simplifying procedures and reducing bureaucracy.” “Following the election in May 2007 we are working with the new Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Scottish Government in the delivery of their wider justice and legal agenda.” The 408,654 grants of legal assistance made in 2006-2007 were slightly less - by 1% - compared to 2005-2006. However, grants of civil legal aid – for cases such as divorce and contact with children in the courts - increased by 3% to 11,323 grants, reversing the falls seen in previous years. The Board also reports a 12% increase in grants by the courts for children’s legal aid. In criminal legal aid, the volume of cases continued to increase. Grants of summary criminal legal aid increased 3% to 82,686 and there were 18% more grants to 13,898 by the courts for solemn criminal legal aid. There are the highest ever levels of summary and solemn cases. The increases are generally in line with an increase in the number of accused being prosecuted in the courts. Over the last five years the number of summary criminal legal aid grants have increased by 10% and solemn criminal legal aid by 27%. How quickly and accurately the Board deals with legal aid applications is of real importance to applicants, their advisers and others across the justice system. In the last year the Board surpassed all of its six headline performance targets, the key measures of the Board’s operational performance. For 2006-2007 the Board had again increased its performance targets. Legal aid pays for fees charged by solicitors, advocates and solicitor advocates. It also pays for outlays – for example, travel expenses and the cost of getting reports from experts such as doctors - and also includes payments to the legal profession who act as “Edinburgh agents” for other solicitors with cases in the Court of Session. Last year the cost of outlays increased 8% to £18.2 million, which is 21% higher than five years ago. Last year payments to advocates and solicitor advocates increased by 13% to £20.8 million. Over the last five years payments to advocates and solicitor advocates has increased by 53%, which is £7.2 million higher. Most legal aid expenditure is for fees for solicitors. In 2006-2007 payments made to solicitors were 1% lower at £122.0 million, with most paid for criminal cases. Over the last five years payments to solicitors have increased by 5%, which is £6.1 million more. The number of solicitor firms registered with the Board for civil legal assistance was 8% lower at 676 firms, and 4% less at 599 firms for criminal legal assistance. Iain A Robertson CBE, Chairman, commented: “Where there are gaps in private sector provision, we and the Scottish Government need to look at the best and most cost effective ways of filling these gaps. This could include mechanisms such as contracting, grant funding or by using the Board’s powers under Part V of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 where solicitors, directly employed by the Board, can provide services.” “Scottish Ministers have already agreed that the Board will employ a small number of solicitors in the Highlands and Islands under Part V of legal aid legislation to provide a service where a member of the public is unable to find a private solicitor to take on their case, for example in domestic violence situations.” Fees paid to the legal profession are set by Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament. During the last year, the Board proposed changes to the civil legal aid block fee system, which were introduced by the Scottish Government in February 2007. These changes increase the amount solicitors are paid in certain types of case such as family cases, and are expected to be worth around £1 million a year to civil legal aid solicitors. Further changes are also being considered. Towards the end of 2006-2007, Scottish Ministers asked Scottish Government officials and the Board to carry out a review of the fee levels for civil legal aid. Work on this review is nearing completion and a report will be made to Scottish Ministers. In criminal cases, the Board worked with the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Government to develop proposals for a new block fee system for solemn criminal legal aid. The Board implemented a backdated increase in fee rates for solicitors in solemn cases, which had been agreed by Scottish Ministers. The Board also worked with the Scottish Executive and the Faculty of Advocates to review fees for counsel in criminal cases, with new regulations coming into force in March 2007. There was also work on developing fee tables for counsel in appeals and civil cases, that are expected to be introduced in the next year. In 2006 the Board launched a major project to simplify civil legal assistance for applicants, opponents, solicitors, the Board and the taxpayer. The Board held over 17 focus groups with solicitors and carried out a survey with applicants and opponents to get views on how to improve the system for the benefit of all those involved. Some changes have already been made, for example for applicants who pay towards the cost of their civil legal aid, the period over which they can pay has been extended to 48 months, which has improved access to justice. The Board has also simplified the process for solicitors applying for increases in authorised expenditure in civil advice and assistance through the use of “template” applications which group stages of work together into one increase. Many more changes are planned for the coming year. The Board’s Chief Executive, Lindsay Montgomery said: Other changes to increase access to justice and improve the operation of the legal aid system are highlighted in the Report: * The Board worked with the Scottish Government to develop the regulations that introduced important reforms to civil advice and assistance in May 2007. These reforms also saw simplification of how solicitors request increases in expenditure and further developments in online services. * With the Scottish Government and other justice organisations, the Board developed proposals for the summary criminal legal assistance system to support the new summary justice process. A consultation on these proposals is being issued in October 2007. The work of the Board’s solicitor and applicant investigations unit which monitors and investigates possible instances of fraud and abuse of legal aid, resulted in savings of over £2.1 million in 2006-2007. Chief Executive Lindsay Montgomery said: Further key information from the Report is attached to this release. The Board's Annual Report 2006-2007 and details of payments made to solicitor firms, advocates and solicitor advocates is available on its website at www.slab.org.uk and from its Communications Department. ENDS Journalists please contact: Colin Sim tel (direct) 0131 240 2033, or email simco@slab.org.uk
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