18th August 2010

Family lawyers in London, Brighton and throughout England and Wales have been voicing their criticism of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) most recent round of tenders for family legal aid contracts.

The new system means that law firms must bid for three-year contracts rather than being paid for legal aid work on a case-by-case basis, or for a set of cases.

LSC figures revealed that of the 2,400 family law firms which previously worked on legal aid cases, only 1,300 won new contracts which will be due to commence in October.

According to The Guardian 90 percent of family law lawyers questioned in a poll posed by Resolution, the family solicitors' association, say they believe the LSC's actions serve as a serious threat to access to justice.

Eighty six percent of the respondents to the survey said they would be appealing the decision by the LSC not to renew their legal aid contract for family work.

Steve Hynes, director of the Legal Action Group, said, "The big concern with family law is the reduction in outlets, which has been dramatic. It seems pretty obvious that if you reduce the number of outlets on the high street by 1,100 then there will be members of the public missing out on getting access to legal aid."

The Resolution survey found that family law lawyers believe:

• vulnerable parties, such as those suffering domestic violence or forced marriage, who are most in need of emergency legal aid, will be unable to find the legal advice they need quickly and from a practitioner who is located within their local area;
• provision of family legal aid services will become so sparse, particularly in rural locations, that the LSC's actions will create "advice deserts", including Cornwall, Dorset, Bedfordshire and Lincolnshire where there will simply not be enough legal aid family law practitioners to cope with demand;
• access to justice will be further impeded by the proposed closure of magistrates and county courts.

An LSC spokesperson said, "An insistence on ensuring quality advice where it is needed is at the heart of our tendering process. We are confident we have achieved quality advice provision throughout England and Wales."

Family law lawyers across England and Wales are doing all they can to reassure current clients that their cases will not be affected as the new contracts will not come into force until 14th October 2010 and any case commenced before that date will be unaffected.