Fee increase must be part of wider legal aid reform: Society

The 3% fee increase just introduced for legal aid work must be part of a wider package of reform, the Law Society of Scotland has said.

Taking effect from Friday past, the rise is the first across-the-board increase for many years, with the rates for some work not having increased since the 1990s. A panel has been appointed by the Scottish Government to recommend an evidence-based method of setting fees for the future.

Ian Moir, convener of the Society’s Criminal Legal Aid Committee, commented: "Legal aid helped people secure access to justice in over 200,000 cases last year, defending people when prosecuted, when unfairly dismissed, when facing homelessness, family separation or a range of other challenging, life-changing issues. Legal aid is the mainstay of access to justice in Scotland, but the funding of this vital service is no longer fit for purpose." However over the last decade, solicitors had seen around a 20% cut in real terms through inflation, and the number providing criminal legal aid had fallen by 20%.

Civil legal aid convener Mark Thorley added: "It’s important that this increase is part of a package of wider reform to make legal aid sustainable and to ensure that people are provided access to justice. The fee review panel provides an opportunity to tackle the effect of inflation and bridge the funding gap for legal aid.

"We’ll also look forward to a public consultation on the recommendations of the independent review of legal aid, which will allow practitioners and the public to have a say around how to make sure that legal aid and access to justice can be best provided."