Call to scrap Scottish Legal Aid Board to save £40m

Lawyers have called for the Scottish Legal Aid Board to be scrapped, saving an estimated £40 million over five years, and ensuring the poorest can continue to access justice in the face of budget cuts.

The Law Society of Scotland's access to justice committee has proposed merging the board with Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, creating a one-stop-shop.

The committee fears cuts resulting from the UK government's spending review on 20 October will hit the poorest hardest, arguing that not only could they lose benefits, jobs and homes, but if the legal aid budget is cut they may lose access to their final refuge - the civil courts.

It wants to protect the money available to them by cutting down on administration and bureaucracy elsewhere.

Committee convener Mike Dailly, of Govan Law Centre, said: "We can either sit back and wait for frontline legal services for vulnerable people to be cut, or we can seize the initiative and identify innovative solutions.

"We'll be producing detailed re-modelling, but are confident a new 'one-stop shop' which handled all legal complaints, payments, and strategic planning could save the taxpayer up to 40m over the next five years, with further savings over the longer term.

"Such savings would avoid the need to cut access to vital front-line legal services for the Scottish public. The access to justice committee believes a radical process of reorganisation and simplification should form part of an early Access to Justice or Legal Aid Bill after the elections in May 2011."

The committee estimates the legal aid board spends 12.7m a year on administration to manage a legal aid budget of 156m.

It wants to see its responsibilities broken up and the new, merged 'Scottish Legal Services Commission', located in modern premises, with lower maintenance costs, outside Edinburgh.

The proposals will be discussed by the Law Society's council next month and, if approved, recommended to the Scottish Government.

However, a spokesman for the Legal Aid Board said: "Any significant changes to legal aid services are a decision for the Scottish Government and parliament. The board is actively looking at ways legal aid can be delivered more cost effectively whilst protecting access to justice.

"We perform a wide range of important functions which save the taxpayer many tens of millions of pounds each year."It appears unlikely (the committee's proposals] would lead to significant savings and may risk higher costs for the taxpayer."

A spokeswoman for the legal complaints commission added: "Both organisations have two very defined and different roles in helping the public to access justice and are funded in very different ways."

A Law Society of Scotland spokeswoman said: "The council has not discussed the proposal of merging the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission with the Scottish Legal Aid Board to save costs. If this proposal is brought to council, the council would consider."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We have yet to receive any proposals, but we have no current plans to amend the status of the board."