Legal Aid Money Misspent

Thu, 30 Apr 2009

New research by legal aid policy charity Legal Action Group has revealed that millions of pounds of government money is being misspent. The government announced £10 million of extra funding in July in order to help vulnerable citizens in some of Britain’s most deprived areas. The funding was intended to cover the legal costs of up to 40,000 people in cases involving debt, employment, welfare benefits and housing .

However, instead of the money being channelled into run down parts of London, Liverpool and Manchester, much of the money intended to pay for solicitors and lawyers has been directed towards some of the most prosperous boroughs, including Rutland, Surrey and West Berkshire. Indeed, new figures have revealed that 73 per cent of the extra funding has been spent in 20 per cent of the most prosperous areas.

This alleged misuse of government money has occurred despite the Legal Services Commission using a formula to calculate the need in a particular area, based on a prediction of the percentage of the population in each borough likely to use the legal aid. However, in agreement with the new figures, legal aid lawyers have said the formula isn’t working, and believe that the recent reforms have only served to increase pressure on smaller legal firms .
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