header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Criminal actions

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
13 March 2017 / Steve Hynes
Issue: 7739 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus , Profession
printer mail-detail

Will the government learn from past criminal legal aid mistakes, asks Steve Hynes

Michael Gove’s time at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was mainly marked by a series of policy u-turns which dismantled the legacy of his predecessor, Chris Grayling, and earned him plaudits from the legal profession. For legal aid, it was the abandonment of two-tier contracts in criminal legal aid which was perhaps the most dramatic of his policy reversals. This was forced on him by a combination of effective campaigning by criminal legal aid lawyers and bad advice from his civil servants. Gove’s successor, Liz Truss, seems to not to have learnt any lessons from this debacle and is heading for another showdown with criminal legal aid lawyers.

Two-tier contracts

Successive legal aid administrators have been attracted to the idea of putting duty work for police and magistrates’ court work out to tender. In March 2009, the then Labour government announced it was going to introduce a system of best value tendering (BVT) for the work. At the time many practitioners

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Quinn Emanuel—James McSweeney

Quinn Emanuel—James McSweeney

London promotion underscores firm’s investment in white collar and investigations

Ward Hadaway—Louise Miller

Ward Hadaway—Louise Miller

Private client team strengthened by partner appointment

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

Kate Gaskell, CEO of Flex Legal, reflects on chasing her childhood dreams underscores the importance of welcoming those from all backgrounds into the profession

NEWS
Read All
Human rights concerns for patients, prisoners & immigration detainees
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Licensing fast-track for conveyancing & probate professionals
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Stress at work? Join the (employment tribunal claim) queue
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
NLJ this week: Hard line drawn on vague points of dispute
In Ward v Rai, the High Court reaffirmed that imprecise points of dispute can and will be struck out. Writing in NLJ this week, Amy Dunkley of Bolt Burdon Kemp reports on the decision and its implications for practitioners
NLJ this week: Supreme Court resets the rules on complex fraud trials
Could the Supreme Court’s ruling in R v Hayes; R v Palombo unintentionally unsettle future complex fraud trials? Maia Cohen-Lask of Corker Binning explores the question in NLJ this week
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll