Firms Walk Away From Criminal Legal Aid Work
Published December 2009
Only half of the 369 firms questioned in a recent survey by the National Audit Office (NAO) expect to be carrying out publicly-funded criminal defence work in the next five years, with 28 percent unlikely to be doing so as a result of its unprofitability, the prospect of tendering and retirement.
One in six firms receives no profit from criminal legal aid work, and another14 percent makes only one to five percent profit.
The NAO’s report criticises the Legal Services Commission (LSC) who run the legal aid scheme in England and Wales. With over £1 billion spent on criminal legal aid in the last year, the NAO suggests that the LSC needs to improve its understanding of the market and make more of its ability to control prices and practices to ensure it is paying a fair price for services.
It would seem the firms who took part in the survey agree with the NAO’s views, with 29 percent believing that the LSC does not completely understand the legal system and 36 percent describing the LSC as ‘unhelpful’.
