Mark Evans, the president of the Law Society of England and Wales, has called for the government to place family legal aid at the centre of its plans for justice reforms.
Writing exclusively for Today’s Family Lawyer, Evans (pictured) said “chronic under-investment” has forced legal aid solicitors out of the sector, denying expert legal advice and support to many of those who need it.
“If the government is serious about halving violence against women and girls, improving access to family legal aid must be central to the Family Justice Strategy”, Evans wrote.
He added: “The number of people representing themselves in the family courts has more than tripled between 2013 and 2026, while family disputes are not being resolved out of court and referrals to legal aid mediation have dropped by 56%.
“Legal aid fees have not increased since 1996 and were cut by 10% in 2011.”
Along with the lack of access to justice, the ongoing under-investment is resulting in wider challenges across the legal sector, including recruitment and retention difficulties, Evans explained.
The Law Society’s own research found that 47% of family legal aid providers were loss-making and civil legal aid work is loss-making for 82% of the providers sampled.
In the last 15 years, the number of solicitor offices starting legal aid work has almost halved.
“Despite the evidence, the government did not implement the significant increases the Law Society called for across all areas of legal aid”, Evans notes.
“This was only partially rectified when, for the first time in 30 years, the government raised fees for solicitors working in housing and immigration in December 2025.”
Last month, the Law Society launched research which aims to identify and help reduce inefficiencies in the legal aid system.
“I encourage solicitors working in legal aid to take part in this research and help key decision-makers in government better understand the steps they can take to make legal aid work more economically viable for firms”, Evans said.
Read the full feature: Mark Evans: Why family legal aid must be at the heart of justice reform
