Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
Ensure financial eligibility thresholds for legal aid are routinely reviewed and swiftly implemented.
Recommendation
The Ministry of Justice has been slow to review financial eligibility thresholds, leaving fewer people eligible for legal aid, and it has not set out how it plans to review thresholds in future. One of the aims of MoJ’s 2013 reforms was to target legal aid at those who need it most. However, it did not create a mechanism for reviewing financial eligibility thresholds for legal aid and has not altered them since. Consequently, each year a reducing proportion of people have been eligible for legal aid due to wage inflation. For example, over the period from 2012–13 to 2020–21 the proportion of UK income taxpayers eligible for civil legal aid decreased by 11 percentage points (73% to 62%). In February 2019, MoJ announced its plans to review means testing for legal aid, but it took until 2023 for it to propose changes, and changes will not be fully implemented until 2026 due to “wider competing Government priorities”. It has assured the Committee that thresholds will be adjusted for inflation before they are implemented as they are currently based on Value for Money from Legal Aid 7 2019–20 data. However, MoJ could not provide us with clear plans for how it will routinely review and uprate thresholds in the future, as it considers this to be a political matter. Recommendation 4: In its Treasury Minute response, the Ministry of Justice should set out what it will do to: • ensure that financial eligibility thresholds for legal aid are kept under review in light of changes in the economy; and • ensure that any proposed changes can be implemented quickly and efficiently.
Government Response Summary
The government agreed, committing to review legal aid income and capital thresholds within three to five years of the new means test's full implementation (expected by summer 2026), and prior to implementation using ONS data. It will also seek to design policy for efficient delivery and acknowledges the need for significant digital transformation for quicker implementation, subject to future spending reviews.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. reviewing income and capital thresholds for legal aid within three to five years of the new means test coming into operation (full implementation is not expected before Summer 2026). MoJ believes this is a reasonable timeframe to allow for changes to settle in, and any review undertaken sooner than this might not provide an accurate picture of any impact being felt. MoJ has also committed to reviewing the level of thresholds prior to implementation, including considering the most recent Office of National Statistics (ONS) data. As ever, the MoJ will seek to design policy to ensure the most efficient operational and digital delivery possible, and work to ensure any changes are implemented as quickly and efficiently as is practicable. The scale of change involved in changes to the means test is considerable, and delivery of changes has to be achieved whilst maintaining the functionality of existing schemes. MoJ recognises that there needs to be transformation of the technology used in delivering legal aid to ensure it is of modern design, meets user needs and is flexible in its design so as to be able to implement required changes more quickly. This digital transformation requires significant investment against a challenging economic backdrop, and any decisions on funding will need to be made in the round in the context of wider priorities in the next Spending Review.