Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Persistent "legal aid deserts" reduce face-to-face access to legal aid services nationwide.
Recommendation
Stakeholders, including the Law Society, have often raised concerns about “legal aid deserts”, where large geographical areas do not have a legal aid provider for a particular category of law.19 For example, 183 local authorities had no legal aid provider office for housing issues in 2022–23, with particular gaps in large areas of the South West and the North West. A declining number of providers have made it harder for people to get to their nearest legal aid office. Analysis undertaken by the National Audit Office showed that for most categories of civil law, less than 50% of the population was within 10 kilometres of a legal aid office in 2022–23. In some areas the nearest housing legal aid office is today more than 20 kilometres further away than it was in 2013–14. These distances may be understated as it does not take into account offices that are unable to take on new cases due to a lack of capacity.20 Evidence from Dr Jo Wilding at the University of Sussex also highlighted that even if a client has access to a provider with capacity to take their civil case, some may only provide legal advice services but not representation in court, or vice versa.21
Government Response Summary
MoJ and LAA will review the current data collected on demand for and access to legal aid, identify opportunities to make improvements, and consider commissioning independent research, aiming for implementation by Spring 2026.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2026 1.2 The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) monitors the supply and distribution of providers; holds regular qualitative discussions with providers which includes their workload; and liaises with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) if a policy remedy ought to be considered. MoJ and LAA will though review the current data collected on demand for, and access to, legal aid, including assessing the methodology for collecting; quality; usability; and completeness of that data. MoJ will identify opportunities to make improvements to data collection and visualisation (such as producing a new series of maps similar to those produced by National Audit Office), and consider any opportunities to enrich insights used for monitoring, where practicable, with other relevant data. MoJ will consider commissioning independent research on this point. It is important that data collection minimises any burdens placed on providers. 1.3 MoJ and LAA will also review their approach to monitoring whether people are able to find a legal aid provider to take on their case (if eligible). MoJ and LAA will consider alternative methods for doing this and look to establish a more robust evidence base on barriers to access, including capacity related factors. Again, any approach should take into account the burdens placed on providers.