As I said on Monday Madeline Bunting squandered a great chance to make the case for Legal Aid and against the current “reforms”. Instead she set up the chance for Lord Hunt and Crispin Passmore to make a couple of easy passing shots in response. You will be familiar with both of these reposts – firstly comes the “more acts of advice and assistance that ever before” line followed up by a “we have vastly increased funding to the not for profit sector”. I don’t really want to go into the NfP stuff suffice it to say by that concentrating on this sector, and not the majority solicitor supplier base, she gifted an easy and irrefutable (except by more subtle and controversial argument) reply which damns the original piece.
I have commented on the former before and repeat –
“Their (LSC) fundamental statutory duty is to guarantee access to justice, via quality assured supply and not to monitor, arguably manipulate, a single, largely meaningless figure as a fig leaf for all the other at least equally vital measurements”.
The impact of current mismanagement on Legal Aid suppliers is fairly easily measurable, the damage their proposals will have on future generations less so. I have no faith that those responsible for the present chaos are the correct people to be charged with securing the schemes future.
Maybe you should dust off you trusty pen(or keyboard)and write to the Gaurdain (sic) and put your point of view to a wider audience.
letters@guardian.co.uk
Cases like this, reported today (see para 24) disclose the true picture about legal aid:
Andrew Keogh
Andrew have formatted your link so readers can go direct – strangely I knew about this case but forgot to ring David to hear the outcome.