With the words “Challenging and Interesting Year ahead” ringing in my ears I left the AGM / Conference on 23rd of October wondering quite what I had taken on

Of course I should have known, I have been a Committee Member and latterly Vice Chair long enough to see the work done by my predecessors. Little did I realise how much there is to do between committee Meetings and I have developed an even greater admiration for Joy and the previous Chairs for their ability to juggle practice and the Chairmanship.

So what’s happened since the 23rd?

The Association responded to the Ministry of Justice Consultation, Legal Aid Funding Reforms, setting out our objections to the reductions in Police Station Fixed Fees for about 160 so called “oversubscribed”  schemes across the country, the removal of Category 3 Standard Fees in the Magistrates Courts to be replaced by a single fixed fee add on fee to the LGF, the removal of the fee for File Reviews and the intention of the MoJ to harmonise Defence Advocates Graduated fees in the Crown Court with those paid by CPS (for which you can read reduce by 18-23 %). Our response can be seen at http://www.clsa.co.uk/index.php?q=199

I would like to take some credit for the Times report  and Panorama programme on 8th November after my newsletter article on the dwindling numbers of defendants in the Magistrates Courts resulting (at least in part) from the overuse of cautioning  but sadly I cant claim that credit. I welcome the Minister of Justices enquiry into the use of out of court disposals. It is interesting that one of the reasons given for the proposed closure of about 120 underused Magistrates Courts is the expected increase in the use of fixed penalties and cautions by the police http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/docs/proposed-closure-mildenhall-court-website.pdf

We all know that the 40,000 cases of assault cautioned by the police last year are the tip of the iceberg of cases of all categories which are inappropriately dealt with by one or other of the out of court disposals available.

We will certainly wish to engage with the Office for Criminal Justice Reform in this urgent review of out of court disposals announced by Jack Straw.

I have attended meetings of all the Crime Practitioner groups where the agenda always covers BVT, the MoJ consultation, VHCC and Crown Court Means testing. All the organisations represented share a common view of developments in these areas.

I have attended meetings of the Criminal Contracts Consultative Group which meets the LSC on a regular basis.

We met with Sir Ian Magee as he reviews the provision of Legal Aid and the Shadow Justice Team to discuss their views on the state of Criminal Legal Aid provision in 2010.

In the wake of the two NAO reports on the performance of the LSC I attended the Public Accounts Committee session on 9th of December where Carolyn Regan appeared.

Your Committee last met on Friday and discussed the issues arising from these meetings

My “e postbag” has been filled with justifiable complaints about the woeful state of payments of LGF and the PPE debacle. Only the LSC could complicate a simple effective system to the extent that for a time it was virtually crippled. All of this is before the review of LGFS has even got off the ground.

I am taking all of the complaints up with the LSC and CPS in the hope that a simplified and above all long lasting scheme comes out of all this mess.

In the meantime I would like to amass a dossier of evidence to present to the LSC of the problems which the revised process is creating.

The LSC say there is no backlog in processing LGFS Claims and they process 12,000 per month.

How long are you waiting for payment? What's your oldest claim still unpaid?

The LSC say that CPS has undertaken to provide running totals of PPE on all cases committed from 1/5/09.

Please let me have examples of areas where running totals are not given or updated.

Please let me have details of cases where evidence served on the court at trial has not been included in the PPE.

Please let me have details of cases where the evidence served electronically on you but on paper to the court hasn't been included in the PPE.

Please tell me what % of your LF1 are being reduced but paid in full after LF2 or the Costs Judge.

The LSC say they are not withholding payments and they are "making interim payments against evidence submitted"

Please let me have examples of any withheld payments in the last 3 months. 

The LSC has agreed to look at all these issues and if we are able to provide detailed information they will take them up. Please e mail the details to me.

Your Committee meets on 8th January if you have any issues which you wish the Committee to discuss please let me know.

Mike Jones
Chair
mjonesgwb@googlemail.com

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