The new Justice Minister, Shabana Mahmood, has said she is pledging to make public funding a priority and to smooth relations with the Legal Aid Agency.
The Legal Aid Minister, Heidi Alexander admitted that the legal aid system was on life support and it would be a challenge to piece together different areas of law. Adding that she was determined to find a system where everyone has access to the justice they need. However, she did add that they are unable to conduct any discussions regarding funding ahead of the spending review later this month.
Main challenges for legal aid
Earlier this year, a report by the National Audit Office found that the legal aid system in England and Wales was in a ‘dire state’. The report found that in real terms, government spending on legal aid fell by £728 million (28%) between 2012/13 and 2022/23.
One of the main challenges for legal aid is the reducing number of legal aid providers. Research conducted by Frontier’s found that the number of civil legal aid providers reduced by 19% in the last five years. As expected, this has had a significant impact on the number of individuals that have access to legal aid.
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