Legal Services Commission Accused of Mishandling Legal Aid

Tue, 02 Feb 2010

The Legal Services Commission has been criticised for its handling of the legal aid scheme. Legal aid costs over £2 billion a year, but the Public Accounts Committee claims that lawyers and solicitors were overpaid by £25 million last year. The accusations relate to the 2008/09 financial year, in which time the Legal Services Commission paid out £125 million in administration fees relating to legal aid, 20 per cent of which has been needlessly spent, boosting law firms profits in the process.

The criticism follows two recent reports which were critical of the way that legal aid is being run. Lord Carter of Coles issued a report in 2006 calling for a number of reforms, though the LSC has since been criticised for failing to plan the changes, resulting in significant delays to their implementation.

While the reports have been critical of the way legal aid is being administered, there is no doubt that legal aid is a useful service, helping those who can't afford an expensive lawyer or solicitor to avoid legal costs . The Public Accounts Committee acknowledge that the Legal Services Commission had succeeded in boosting the availability of legal aid, instead criticising the management’s administration of legal aid.
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