Introduction
Legal aid pays for legal services for people who
meet eligibility criteria set by the Government. In November 2010,
the Ministry set out plans for reforms to civil legal aid and
these took effect in April 2013. The reforms had four objectives:
to make significant savings to the legal aid budget; to discourage
litigation at public expense; to target legal aid to those who
need it most; and to deliver better overall value for money. To
achieve this the Ministry introduced reforms including: removing
many areas of law from eligibility for legal aid; tightening the
financial eligibility criteria for legal aid; cutting fees paid
to providers by 10%; and providing more legal advice over the
telephone. The Ministry is responsible for legal aid policy and
the Legal Aid Agency (the Agency) is responsible for the operation
of the legal aid system, including managing contracts with legal
aid providers and monitoring the quality and accessibility of
legal aid. The Agency spent £801 million on civil legal aid
in 2013-14, £141 million less than in 2012-13.
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