You go away for a bit and lots of things happen.
Richard Miller, Director of LAPG comments on the recent reshuffle
“While having three different ministers within the space of eight weeks is a shabby way to treat the legal aid system, we are hopeful that Vera Baird’s appointment will prove a good one. She already has a sound understanding of many of the issues facing the legal aid system, and of the needs of the clients who depend on the service. We find it encouraging that she has been
given legal aid as her prime responsibility, rather than having a range
of other responsibilities also making demands on her time. We hope to be
working with her for somewhat longer than we were working with her
predecessor.”
(Note: Harriet Harman took over responsibility for legal aid from
Bridget Prentice on 15th March 2006, as part of a reshuffle of
responsibilities caused by a possible conflict of interests resulting
from her husband Jack Dromey’s involvement in the loans for peerages
affair.)