Thread by @ChrisLAPG

Today the @LegalAidAgency announced that civil contracts, due to expire Aug 23, will be extended to Aug 24. Many providers will be pleased, & fair enough too, as tenders are time-consuming, costly & disruptive, & as some have found in recent years, can go horribly wrong. 🧵1/16

https://twitter.com/LegalAidAgency/status/1576905310257565697

But the @LegalAidAgency only carries out large-scale tenders across all civil contracts periodically, as contracts come to an end. The last tender (for contracts from Sep 18) is the last time new providers could get a contract & existing providers could expand/do new work. 2/16

Today’s news means that new providers will continue to be locked out of #LegalAid for 2 more years, & those wanting to expand cannot. Legal aid work is really challenging: underpaid, complex and maligned by many. Remarkably there are lawyers who are still willing to do it. 3/16

And why does the further 2 year delay matter? Because the crises afflicting #LegalAid mean that providers have been consistently dropping out – giving up contracts or closing altogether – for years. Not just because of the disaster that was #LASPO. 4/16
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

The official stats above are for new Legal Help (generally advice and assistance) and Legal Representation (generally litigation) cases – the numbers of provider offices - locations from where services are delivered - has significantly declined over the last 10+ years. 5/16

The @TheLawSociety advice desert maps show chronic shortages across England & Wales (Scotland and NI have separate systems). 6/16
lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/lega…

These areas are crucial aspects of the everyday lives and wellbeing of people across E&W – housing, community care, education, immigration and asylum.
Blink and you’ll miss Welfare Benefits providers: lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/lega… 7/16

If you want to see the official data on how these reductions have played out regionally, have a look at former Justice Minister @jcartlidgemp answer to Shadow Legal Aid Minister @Afzal4Gorton question in Feb 2022. It is grim reading. 8/16
questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questi…

& the LAA has unpublished management information which shows official figures mask that a worrying number of civil providers haven’t opened a new case for more than 12 months, others just a handful of new cases. Why? They can’t run cases & keep their organisations afloat. 9/16

The government will soon publish the outcome of the Means Test Review, with a range of changes that new Justice Minister, @Dines4Dales, noted in Sept 2022 ‘will mean an additional 2m people in England and Wales will have access to civil legal aid’. 10/16
questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questi…

But if providers can’t afford to run the cases, how will these 2m people get the help they need? The answer is they won't. Theoretical entitlement to #LegalAid but no practical access as the lawyers are not there to do the work. 11/16

Last year we published the #LegalAidCensus. It gives a clear outline, from over 2500 current, former and aspiring legal aid lawyers about what motivates them, what frustrates them, and why so many have had to turn their backs on the jobs they love.
lapg.co.uk/campaigning/ 12/16

We’ve heard the same testimony, time and again from @TheLawSociety , @lccsa , @CrimeSolicitors and the @TheCriminalBar on why crime practitioners are leaving in droves. Crime and civil providers can't recruit or retain staff. They can't compete with local govt, the CPS etc. 13/16

The @APPGLegalAid published the Westminster Commission report, evidence & data from across the sector. The X-party Commission came up with a range of sensible proposals to rebuild #LegalAid & increase access for those many 1000s of clients who need help but can’t get it. 14/16

Today’s @LegalAidAgency announcement about extending contracts has trailed a @MoJGovUK 'Civil Legal Aid Review'. A formal process to, presumably, gather data and ideas on what’s gone so horribly wrong with civil #LegalAid and what can be done to fix it. 15/16

We don’t need another long, drawn-out process. More providers will leave in the meantime and more clients will suffer. We need action, now. We need payment rates that reflect the skill and commitment of #LegalAid practitioners & the complexity and importance of the work. 16/16