The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is inviting Legal aid providers to a discussion on using interest on client account to fund access to justice.
According to email correspondence firms are invite to roundtable discussions next month to explore ‘innovative approaches’ to funding for legal services.
‘There are significant demand and pressures on the justice system and advice sector. With wider funding constraints across both the public and third sectors securing additional financial resources to address these challenges will be difficult. In response, and as part of the future development of the legal support strategy, we are considering innovative approaches to generate additional funding for key areas including access to justice.’
It is understood one proposal under consideration is an Interest on Lawyer’s Client Account (ILCA) scheme which could divert interest on client account to a central fund to provide funding for access to justice including legal aid.
Writing in the Law Society Gazette chief executive of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group Chris Minnoch said
“The key questions for us, if this goes ahead, are will the MoJ utilise any funds raised to bolster the legal aid scheme by, for example, increasing fees or expanding scope, or will the income be used for other access to justice projects?”
“Legal aid is by some distance the biggest and most impactful aspect of the advice ecosystem, and has been under-resourced for decades, so we would like a clear message from the MoJ that any additional funding stream (be it ILCA or otherwise) will be used to ensure the legal aid scheme is more effective and more sustainable.”
Last week the Justice Committee launched an inquiry into how advice and legal services are adapting in the modern age, examining the current state of the market and access to justice. Chair of the Justice Committee Andy Slaughter access to justice was ‘fundamental to people’s right to a fair trial or hearing’ with the committee set to explore potential funding options outside of the public purse to increase access to justice, including what was described as an access to justice fund levy and/or third party funding.
The Law Society has responded with president Richard Atkinson saying the legal sector is already a sizeable contributor to government revenue adding Chancery Lane questioned how much money would be generated ‘particularly given the impact of electronic banking and the bureaucracy it would entail.’
