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Annual legal aid spending in England and Wales has fallen by 28 per cent in real terms over the past decade, the public spending watchdog has found, raising concerns that the cuts have added pressure on other public services.
A report by the National Audit Office on Friday found that expenditure on state-backed legal support dropped from £2.58bn to £1.86bn between 2012-13 and 2022-23, as reforms introduced in 2013 have reduced access to representation.
The report, which identified shortages in the provision of legal aid particularly in areas such as housing and immigration, comes amid growing alarm among lawyers about the state of the justice system, after a long period of austerity and funding cuts.
The Lady Chief Justice, Dame Sue Carr, and the chair of the Bar Council, Sam Townend KC, both warned this week that the international reputation of England and Wales risked being undermined without more investment.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government’s 2013 legal aid reforms were designed to discourage unnecessary litigation, target assistance to those who need it most and deliver better overall value for money.
However, Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said ministers “cannot demonstrate a spending reduction for the public purse” overall. The watchdog said there was evidence to suggest the cuts were increasing workloads for other parts of the public sector.
Examples included the courts, where more litigants were appearing without legal representation, requiring more support from judges and court staff.
In housing, the NAO cited concerns that unresolved disputes meant some local authorities had to provide temporary accommodation to those who were evicted, and that tenants unable to challenge poor living conditions developed health problems.
The NAO also said the government “does not know whether everyone eligible for legal aid can access it” because fee reductions had reduced the number of lawyers willing to take on such work. Civil legal aid fees were approximately half what they were 28 years ago in real terms, the watchdog said.
The Ministry of Justice said: “Last year alone, we have spent nearly £2bn helping people facing legal difficulties, including thousands of families and domestic abuse victims.”
It added that this month it announced proposals for a £21.1mn pay boost for Criminal Legal Aid lawyers and had increased most criminal legal aid fees by 15 per cent.
Legal aid rates have recently been challenged in the courts. The Law Society, which represents solicitors, brought a case to the High Court, warning that much of the work representing people involved in criminal cases had become economically unviable.
In a ruling last week the court identified shortcomings in ministers’ decision-making process when it decided against implementing the findings of an independent review. The MoJ said it would consider the judgment.
