news & events
02 November 2009
K. McAskill Esq
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
The Scottish Parliament
EDINBURGH EH1
Dear Cabinet Secretary,
I write in response to your speech at the Legal Aid Conference on
9th October 2009. It had been my intention to write to you in
relation to the Scottish Legal Aid Board's Annual Report 2008-9 in
any event. Many of your comments at the Conference were pertinent
to my observations in relation to the Report, in particular the
continued increased costs of SLAB and the PDSO.
One of the main parts of your speech was about the lack of
traineeships available to law graduates, something which you
described as a "human tragedy". The lack of criminal trainees is
something that Glasgow Bar Association has been complaining about
for many years. We see the reason for this problem as primarily the
lack of funding in criminal legal aid over the last two decades.
The block fee systems also discourages taking on more staff and as
the payments in real terms decrease year on year the trend is
towards having less staff per firm, not more. There is also the
fear of whether there is a sustainable future for private criminal
legal aid firms if this trend continues.
As you know Glasgow Bar Association were vehemently opposed to
the legal aid changes at the time of Summary Justice Reform. Whilst
we acknowledged that the number of cases would decrease we did not
believe that it was unreasonable for the summary budget to remain
static given that there had not been any increase in the summary
fixed fee in ten years. The estimated cut in the budget was around
6-7%. In reality if criminal advice and assistance is included the
cut has been 8.4%. That has been on the basis of only ten months
post-SJR.
Moreover the cost per case in solemn legal aid dropped 18.2%
last year in an area that was already under-funded. If, as we are
led to believe, the new system is to be "cost neutral" on the
current fee structure then this is clearly unacceptable.
What is more galling is that the PDSO seem to be immune to the
harsh realities of SJR. Their costs have risen yet again by 11%
despite the fact their caseload dropped nearly 11%. That means that
over the last 5 years alone there has been a 374% increase in costs
with only a 34% increase in the number of cases. By SLAB's own
calculations every single PDSO office is making a substantial loss.
The staff costs increased 16% despite the fact the staff numbers
were the same. This includes an increased pension of 49% on the
previous year. Private solicitors must still fund their own
pensions, holidays, and statutory pay out of their reduced income.
The Part V solicitors' pension costs rose by a staggering 79% last
year. This surely cannot be the best use of the public purse? You
asked at the conference for us to identify where savings can be
made. Taking the money out of the PDSO and putting it into the
private sector may not only provide savings but also may allow
firms to take on trainees. It will also provide the public with far
better value per case.
Similarly SLAB's own operating costs did not reflect the cuts
imposed on the solicitors. Despite a slight decrease of 0.2% from
the previous year this hardly reflects the 16% decrease in
applications and cases paid. Indeed over the last five years the
applications have decreased 32% but administration costs have
increased by 36%. Administration costs are now over 9% of the
overall legal budget compared to 5.8% five years ago. Actual
payments to solicitors have remained static over that period. Money
must be taken out of administration and put back into those
appearing at court before the situation deteriorates further.
Quality assurance and SLAB taking over solemn grants will have the
opposite effect.
Whilst one cannot ignore the financial climate the financial
difficulties we face as criminal and civil legal aid solicitors
were imposed upon us prior to the recession. The profession cannot
absorb any further cuts without being severely affected. Indeed
there are likely to be plenty of "human tragedies" amongst those
already practising if the current trends continue. The Government
must look to the costs of administration and the PDSO if it wishes
to make further savings. If that can be done and more money can be
directed to the coal face then there may be a future for not only
our graduates but for the criminal justice system as a whole.
I would be grateful for your comments in relation to the
above.
Yours faithfully,
David O'Hagan
President