Accusations of ‘spin’ levelled at Legal Aid Board as ‘satisfaction survey’ over legal aid published days after row over bank charges case funding

After a week of arguments between the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Govan Law Centre over SLAB’s refusal to fund bank charges cases via civil legal aid, the Legal Aid Board today faced fresh allegations of ‘spin’ & ‘cover up’ as it published a ‘feel good survey’ compiled by MVA consultancy reporting there were “high levels of satisfaction with the legal aid procedures operated by the Board, particularly its online services”.

MVA consultancy were selected by SLAB earlier in February 2010 to carry out nationwide survey of solicitors who provide work under legal assistance. The survey was carried out over six weeks by way of a telephone administered questionnaire to a number of randomly selected practitioners throughout Scotland.

A senior solicitor from an Edinburgh law firm hit out today at the way in which the Scottish Legal Aid Board has attempted to cap an ongoing row over the way it awards civil legal aid funds to those seeking access to justice in Scottish Courts by the timely publishing of a “feel good survey depicting SLAB in a better light than it deserves”. The solicitor went onto allege the timely publishing of the survey “was typical media spin from a quango which found itself at the heart of a slew of bad headlines over questionable funding decisions.”

He continued : “Happy smiley face surveys aside, SLAB should be held more to account for the way in which it awards or refuses civil legal aid to clients who are routinely denied access to justice in the Scottish courts through a lack of funding due to blatantly prejudiced decisions taken by the board.”

The Scottish Legal Aid Board survey media release of 10 December 2010 follows :

Legal aid solicitor survey shows high satisfaction and commitment to legal aid (pdf)

An independent survey for the Scottish Legal Aid Board has shown a commitment to legal aid and overall high levels of satisfaction with the legal aid procedures operated by the Board, particularly its online services.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board today published the findings of its independent survey of legal aid solicitors. The survey involved phone interviews with 416 solicitors, across civil and criminal legal aid firms, to gather evidence of the profession’s views on legal aid and the guidance and support provided to them by the Board.

Findings included:

- A significant majority of solicitors are willing to take on more civil legal aid clients (in 2005 43% had said that they had stopped taking on new clients, this is now down to just 2%).

- Solicitors are very positive about continuing to provide legal aid services; 88% “certain” / “likely to” be doing legal aid in three year’s time (compared to 63% in 2005, a 26% increase). These findings support the Board’s experiences of increasing numbers of solicitors wishing to do legal aid work – both civil and criminal legal aid.

- High levels of satisfaction with legal aid processes and guidelines available from the Board. (With very low levels of dissatisfaction indicated across applications and criminal accounts. More varied views were expressed about civil legal aid accounts processes).

- Very strong support for the Board’s online legal aid processes (e.g. 92% for those who submit criminal summary applications were satisfied with the process).

The survey also sought solicitors’ views on aspects of the Summary Justice Reforms on behalf of the Scottish Government, which included reform of Summary Criminal Legal Aid. Findings included:

- 80% of solicitors felt that allowing appointed solicitors to grant criminal ABWOR (assistance by way of representation) for guilty pleas had succeeded in helping to bring about earlier resolution of cases

- about two thirds of solicitors felt that the changes to remuneration were assisting in the earlier resolution of cases.

Lindsay Montgomery, C.B.E., Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board commented : “Overall the results are very positive and encouraging not only about the board’s processes and communications, but also in terms of solicitors’ positive attitudes to continuing to provide legal aid services. This reflects the board’s experience of increasing numbers of firms registering to undertake legal aid work. We are already looking at areas where levels of satisfaction are lower than average (albeit still the minority view) to establish where there might be scope for development. I am very grateful to those who took part in the survey.”

"Solicitors are on the front line of legal aid provision and are integral to enabling access to justice, so seeking the profession’s views in this independent way gives us useful information on solicitors’ experiences of the Board’s systems, which will be used to further develop and improve legal aid policy, practices and procedures.”

The summary research briefing (from MVA Consulting) and full results are available on the Board’s website at http://www.slab.org.uk (if anyone comes up with the direct link to this consultation, which SLAB 'forgot' to add in its Press Statement, please send it in as the SLAB website is a mess – Ed)

Scots Government's ‘heavily politicised’ legal aid reforms play with public’s access to justice

As the dust settles on last week’s heavily politicised announcement from Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill of ‘access reforms’ to legal aid availability, some inside & outside the profession begin to point out that what seemed to some as a positive step, is more of a rearranging of the curtains (as we pointed out too – Ed)

Ranald Lindsay: Legal aid: a political football

Published Date: 13 April 2009
By John Forsyth

'CIVIL legal aid is being rolled out, not rolled back." That was how Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill last week summarised the new income eligibility criteria for Scots who might need financial assistance in pursuing a legal case or defending themselves against one.

As a turn of phrase it was neat, concise and carried a sense of progressive intent as he commended the detail to the general public with wrongs to right and to the legal profession with salaries to pay and overheads to cover.

But are they ten words that will shake the legal process in Scotland? Or even arrest the present precipitous decline in availability of civil legal representation?

Scottish Legal Aid Board figures show the number of firms that received some civil legal aid funding has fallen in each of the last five years, from 733 in 2003-4 to 609 in 2007-8. One in six firms has dropped off the SLAB list.

Ranald Lindsay, convener of the Law Society of Scotland's Access to Justice Committee, says a two-pronged attack on ensuring access to justice is required.

He said: "Extending the number of people eligible to apply for legal aid will not mean much unless the decline in the number of solicitors taking on legal aid cases is reversed.

"The Secretary for Justice promised last May at the Law Society AGM that legal aid fees to solicitors would be increased. He will have to be serious about 'rolling out legal aid' if he is going to stop the rot."

The headlines said up to a million more Scots will now be eligible for civil legal aid from 7 April as the disposable income threshold is raised to £25,000. This means around three-quarters of Scottish adults may qualify financially for legal aid. Previously, the absolute ceiling for civil legal aid eligibility was disposable income (after deducting costs such as housing and family expenses) of £10,306. The limit on the amount of disposable capital has also risen, to £12,439.

Launching the reform, Mr MacAskill said: "I have long considered it unfair that people of relatively modest means can find themselves unable to pursue a complex and expensive legal action. As a first step towards correcting that unfairness, we will increase the financial eligibility limits for civil legal aid with an appropriately tapered contribution regime."

The devil is in the detail of that "appropriately tapered contribution regime". The extension of eligibility has been achieved by introducing a band system. For those with a disposable income of less than £3,355 there is no difference; they will not be assessed for a personal contribution. Neither will there be a difference for those between £3,355-£10,995 – they will be assessed for a personal contribution of a third of the difference between £3,355 and their disposable income.

The interesting changes come in the next two bands. Those with disposable income over £10,995 will be assessed for a personal contribution of half the difference between £10,996 and £15,000. Finally, applicants with a disposable income above £15,001 will be assessed for a 100 per cent contribution of the difference between £15,001 and £25,000.

Mr Lindsay says: "Effectively, if your disposable income is above £15,000 then the Scottish Legal Aid Board is offering an interest-free loan.

"I'm not dismissing that as an aid to helping folk pursue a case or defend themselves. Access to justice has too often been denied on grounds of cost. The opponent with deep pockets but a poor case too often prevails."

But he added: "These new bands will need a lot of discussion between solicitor and client. Under the previous system, I had clients scared away at the prospect of having to contribute up to a couple of thousand pounds. I'll have to install a defibrillator before I start telling people liability could be £14,500!"

SLAB has estimated that 1,700 more grants will be made in the coming year under the new regime, at a net additional cost of £1.3 million. In 2007-8, SLAB gave 10,650 grants at a net cost of £20.38 million.

Interestingly, SLAB has three forms of revenue from cases it funds. "Contributions from Assisted Persons" is the smallest, yielding £1.06 million in 2007-8. Clawback from winnings ("Amounts Awarded to Assisted Persons") brought in £1.35 million. "Expenses from Opponents" following successful legally aided cases was £10.34 million.

What the profession is waiting for is the second shoe to drop. Mr MacAskill said last year that a review of civil legal aid fees is on its way. Draft regulations have been circulated and will be laid before parliament after Easter. They will take effect on 1 June; increases will be backdated to 1 April, 2008. This will be the first review of fees since the consolidation into blocks of work – itself a controversial reform – in 2003-4.

Oliver Adair, convener of the Law Society of Scotland Legal Aid Committee, says: "I hope the increases will be enough to arrest the decline. Whether it will be enough to entice firms that have previously dropped out to come back is another matter. The problem is we are starting from a historically poor position and it may be difficult to re-establish a civil legal aid presence across Scotland. We do want to stop the drift of legal aid availability to the cities only."

In search of a silver lining in the grey and overcast horizon of the recession, Mr Adair says some firms may look to replace income that has dropped away from conveyancing – for example, with work in other areas where litigation increases as a result of economic stresses.

He said: "I think the government and the profession need to work now to raise not just the availability but the profile of legal aid and its role in resolving disputes so when the recovery comes we'll be in a stronger position."

Mr Lindsay said: "Privately funded clients can pay Premier League rates for legal representation. Sheriff courts' approved hourly rates are the equivalent of the First Division. Legal aid fees are Second Division level. I don't mean clients get second division service, what I mean is it's second division justice when money is the crucial factor, not the merits of the case."

Extending the analogy, the Second Division is where new talent develops and veterans ply an honest trade. But it is also the division where attrition is highest and some players drop out altogether.

Law Society welcomes civil legal aid reform, strings attached as usual

The Law Society of Scotland has ‘welcomed’ the recent reforms of civil legal aid in Scotland put forward by the Scottish Government, although with the usual strings attached … (as in legal aid should only be paid to Law Society members ? –Ed)

Law Society Press Release :

Law Society welcomes civil legal aid reform

The Law Society of Scotland supports the Scottish Government’s plans to raise the civil Legal Aid threshold as announced on 7 April.

The Society, while supportive of any initiative which aims to improve/address the situation, believes that more needs to be done to ensure that the purpose of the reform – to increase access to justice – is achieved.

Ranald Lindsay, Convener of the Access to Justice Committee said:

“This announcement is certainly welcome, and tackles a problem which has long been a concern of the Society’s, namely the difficulties facing those whose incomes are just above Legal Aid eligibility levels for legal advice and representation.

“Although making more people eligible for Legal Aid is going to help improve access to justice, the difficulties with the Legal Aid system mean that finding a solicitor to do the work is likely to remain as problematic for clients.

“Civil legal aid cases are notoriously labour intensive and involve significant extra bureaucracy and administration while remaining one of the least remunerative areas of practice in Scotland. In these days of economic difficulties, many legal practices have already had to make some very hard decisions, leading to redundancies, and a candid appraisal of what services they can offer if they are simply to survive.

“Making more people eligible for Legal Aid will not provide a complete solution unless the government can also attract more solicitors into this area of work.”

Legal Aid lottery in Scotland : None to fight repossessions but plenty for crime

Plenty legal aid for criminals as we all know .. but people getting thrown out of their houses by lenders … well that's another story as many are now finding out .. while Justice Secretary MacAskill drags his feet as usual ..

The Sunday Herald reports :

Legal aid for repossession cases is vital, says Labour

By John Bynorth, Home Affairs Editor

LABOUR HAS accused the Scottish government of needlessly throwing people who cannot afford to keep up their mortgage payments on to the street by failing to provide them with an automatic right to legal aid for action to prevent repossession.

Health spokeswoman Cathy Jamieson, pictured below, said the lack of protection available to struggling home-owners compared with those living in England and Wales was "unacceptable" and that ministers were failing to listen to those who deal with the fall-out on a daily basis.

Her criticism came after the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed on Friday that the number of people losing their homes to lenders had hit a 12-year high in the UK. CML said 40,000 properties were repossessed in 2008 against 25,900 the previous year, and warned that 75,000 homes will be handed back to banks and building societies as unemployment continues to rise.

Govan Law Centre has reported a year-on-year 50% rise in cases, with 15 repossession actions before the court in January and 20 this month.

Jamieson called on the SNP administration to provide a right to legal aid and to follow the UK government's move to impose a legal duty on leaders and courts to make repossession a last resort. She claimed this had contributed to reducing the numbers of people losing their homes south of the border in the final three months of 2008.

She said: "I am very concerned that families are needlessly being thrown onto the street because the SNP are refusing to offer the same protection to vulnerable homeowners in Scotland as is available south of the border.

"The number of people facing repossession has doubled as a result of the global economic crisis. Pre-court protocols would help prevent families from losing their homes.

"Ministers should listen carefully to the views of those who are dealing with repossessions on a day-to-day basis. Their message is that the Scottish government's refusal to act on this issue is simply unacceptable."

Mike Dailly of Govan Law Centre said: "CML's figures are extremely worrying and entirely consistent with our experience. We could halt that increase if the Scottish government was prepared to introduce a pre-action protocol to ensure that repossession was a genuine last resort. At present, mortgage repossession in Scotland is often a first resort for many lenders."

Holyrood's housing and communities minister, Alex Neil, said it is "ahead of the game" when compared with the UK government through its decision to increase funding to £35 million for the Home Owners' Support Fund, which entitles those who cannot access help elsewhere to remain in their homes through a "mortgage to rent" and shared equity schemes. It also gave £1m of funding to Citizens Advice Scotland.

He added: "We have also set up a Holyrood Repossessions Group to report by 30 April on whether legislative protection for those at risk of losing their home requires further strengthening."

MacAskill raises legal aid threshold in attempt to shore up lawyers profits from civil litigation & avoid legal services reform

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has always said he would protect the legal profession no matter what, and well, that is to be expected because he himself is a solicitor.

On his way to protecting the legal profession, Mr MacAskill has announced the 'wider availability' of legal aid from next spring, as he raises the upper threshold of disposable income to £25,000 from the current £10,306 - where people have to start making contributions.

Mr MacAskill's strategy, after long discussions with the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates, is apparently to ply us with cheap sound bytes, and money from nowhere to boost business for lawyers in civil law cases and perhaps more importantly, to avoid opening up the Scottish legal services market to competition, after increasing protests from the Law Society their member legal firms are suffering through not enough business (and are having to hike client bills to extortionate levels).

However at the end of the day, there isn't actually any new Civil Legal Aid money on the table, its all about shifting the goal posts once again and giving the impression to the rest of the country there will be more availablility of legal aid, when in truth there is actually less.

It is still a case of Buyer Beware though ... as the same traps still exist for those in receipt of civil legal aid where a loss of a case, or even a win can mean the Legal Aid Board will hunt you down for every penny you received from them … and as many accounts show, clients in receipt of civil legal aid are not always treated equitably or fairly by the legal system and the Legal Aid Board itself ...

The Herald reports :

MacAskill announces plan to give more help with civil legal aid

Changes to the legal aid system mean that more than a million more Scots could be eligible for help with the cost of civil cases, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said yesterday.

He announced that the threshold at which people are no longer eligible for civil legal aid was being increased.

The change comes into effect from next spring and Mr MacAskill said it "should mean that around three-quarters of the adult population will be potentially eligible for legal aid".

Currently, around 42% of Scots are eligible for civil legal aid, helping them with the legal costs of cases such as divorce proceedings, child custody cases and employment tribunals.

But a key factor in whether or not they get legal aid is their disposal income.

At the moment people with a disposal income of £3156 a year or less pay no contribution towards their legal costs, while those with an annual disposable income of up to £10,306 make a contribution towards these.

The changes will mean that the upper threshold is increased to £25,000, with a tapered system of contributions for those with annual disposable incomes of between £10,306 and £25,000.

Mr MacAskill revealed details of the change when he spoke at a conference on legal aid organised by the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Law Society of Scotland.

Speaking at the event in Dunblane, the Justice Secretary said: "I have long considered it unfair that people of relatively modest means can find themselves unable to pursue a complex and expensive legal action. As a first step towards correcting that unfairness we will increase the financial eligibility limits for civil legal aid with an appropriately tapered contribution regime.

"From next spring, the upper limit for disposable income will increase to £25,000 which should mean that around three-quarters of the adult population will be potentially eligible for legal aid. For the first time in many a year, legal aid is being rolled out, not rolled back."

Mr MacAskill also said that the Scottish Government was working with the Scottish Legal Aid Board to bring forward simplified and increased fees for civil legal practitioners.

While the Law Society of Scotland welcomed the changes, it said more details were needed.

Oliver Adair, the convener of the Society's legal aid committee, said: "The Law Society of Scotland supports any initiative which extends access to justice. However, we would like to see more details of the financial eligibility, in particular the contributions levels people will have to pay."

Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker also said more detail about the change was needed. He said: "Widening access to justice is essential but there is very little detail with this announcement. We need to know whether people will be expected to pay an affordable financial contribution, otherwise the change may have less value in practice."