While it may have gone slightly under the radar, a significant announcement was recently made by the Ministry of Justice. For the first time since 1996, there will be a funding increase in civil legal aid. This figure stands at an extra £20 million per year, and those to benefit first will include vulnerable people who are facing eviction or those who are at risk of homelessness.
The legal aid increase will also benefit the immigration legal sector, with the Ministry of Justice announcing that the investment will support lawyers who were providing advice to victims of modern slavery, trafficking and domestic abuse.
Why is civil legal aid important?
The increase is designed to address the crisis in legal aid and the backlog in civil courts. UK legal aid spending fell by approximately 38% between 2010 and 2020, partly due to the Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012. Civil legal aid expenditure also halved from £1.06 billion in 2010-11, to approximately £620 million in 2020-21. This has therefore had a detrimental impact of access to justice for the most vulnerable in UK society.
The investment also comes on the back of a significant increase in possession orders as revealed by the Ministry of Justice. For example, mortgage possession orders have soared by 38% compared to the same period in 2023, and landlord possession orders increased by 7%. According to the Law Society, these statistics could result in nearly 25,000 people facing eviction. With the country also facing a housing crisis of high rents and lack of available social housing, this issue is all the more pressing.
The funding increase is subject to consultation, however the government plans to invest an additional £20 million every year as part of its proposal. They added that in addition to the announcement for civil legal aid for the housing and immigration sectors, fees for other civil legal aid categories would remain under consideration.
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, said the following:
“Civil legal aid plays a crucial role in our justice system, providing legal support for vulnerable people thereby helping to ensure access to justice.
This Government is determined to improve the civil legal aid sector which was left neglected for years. This is an important step as we rebuild our justice system, ensuring it is fit for purpose for the society it serves and those who serve within it.”
Criminal legal aid increase
This announcement follows a rise in criminal legal aid last month, with an investment of £24 million to back solicitors working in police stations and youth courts. Despite organisations welcoming the proposals, they have also called for greater funding.
The President of the Law Society, Richard Atkinson, called for investment across all areas of civil legal aid, stating: “The ministry needs to restart the review of civil legal aid and provide a timetable for further investment, as well as steps to reduce the cost of delivering legal aid services, setting out a clear vision for putting this public service on a sustainable footing.”
Those working within the sector will hope that the government’s announcements are a step towards great investment in civil legal aid, rather than the sum of it.
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