By Jaimie Kaffash
29 October 2009
Lawyers have accused the Legal Services Commission of failing to understand the very system it administers.
The accusation came in the wake of a National Audit Office report that found that the Legal Services Commission, which manages the provision of legal aid in England and Wales, paid £6.4m to solicitors for work where there was no evidence that the claimants were eligible. A further £18.3m was given to solicitors who overcharged for legal aid work. The report stated that these errors represented 1.2% of the commission’s entire annual expenditure.
The NAO said that solicitors were able to exploit the system because of: the complexity of the fees system; not enough controls to analyse claims; and the absence of a strict sanctions regime.
Head of the NAO and comptroller general Amyas Morse said: ‘A significant sum of taxpayers’ money is being paid to solicitors in error. The Legal Services Commission needs to build on its existing efforts to tighten its controls on payments to solicitors and on how it monitors the eligibility of cases supported by legal aid. Where appropriate, the commission should also impose sanctions on solicitors found to be making incorrect claims.’
But lawyers have refuted the suggestion that this was a result of fraud on their part and claimed that the audit was flawed. Richard Miller, Law Society legal aid manager, said: ‘It is unfortunate that the comptroller did not talk to the society about his findings. Our experience is that people without knowledge of the system who try to audit files do not fully understand the work done by lawyers or the system under which they operate.’
He added that the discrepancy was a genuine error on the part of solicitors, which was a result of inadequacies in the commission itself. He said there was ‘confusing and contradictory guidance and a lack of clear answers from the LSC – indeed, in some cases the LSC does not even know which category a claim should be in. The complexities of the scheme are what need to be looked at urgently, not the solicitors using it.’
The commission said it recognised the seriousness of the claims and was taking steps to recover overpayments and address the system failures. Chief executive Carolyn Regan said: ‘We are strengthening the controls in our systems and working with providers to reinforce the importance of accurate claims, eligibility assessment and record keeping. This is being implemented through an action plan with the support and engagement of the Ministry of Justice.’
She added that it was ‘important to look at the report in the context of the scale’ of its work, which included 2.9 million legal cases last year.
Legal aid minister Willy Bach told PF that he was 'extremely disappointed that the Legal Service Commission's accounts have been qualified'.
'We have already directed the LSC to put in place a recovery plan to ensure that in the future all public funds are appropriately spent. The recovery plan is being closely overseen by the ministry. In addition to the work already in hand to ensure that the LSC finances are put on a sound footing, I have asked Sir Ian Magee to review urgently the existing delivery and governance arrangements of the legal aid system. Sir Ian is due to report early in the new year,' he added.
29 October 2009
Lawyers have accused the Legal Services Commission of failing to understand the very system it administers.
The accusation came in the wake of a National Audit Office report that found that the Legal Services Commission, which manages the provision of legal aid in England and Wales, paid £6.4m to solicitors for work where there was no evidence that the claimants were eligible. A further £18.3m was given to solicitors who overcharged for legal aid work. The report stated that these errors represented 1.2% of the commission’s entire annual expenditure.
The NAO said that solicitors were able to exploit the system because of: the complexity of the fees system; not enough controls to analyse claims; and the absence of a strict sanctions regime.
Head of the NAO and comptroller general Amyas Morse said: ‘A significant sum of taxpayers’ money is being paid to solicitors in error. The Legal Services Commission needs to build on its existing efforts to tighten its controls on payments to solicitors and on how it monitors the eligibility of cases supported by legal aid. Where appropriate, the commission should also impose sanctions on solicitors found to be making incorrect claims.’
But lawyers have refuted the suggestion that this was a result of fraud on their part and claimed that the audit was flawed. Richard Miller, Law Society legal aid manager, said: ‘It is unfortunate that the comptroller did not talk to the society about his findings. Our experience is that people without knowledge of the system who try to audit files do not fully understand the work done by lawyers or the system under which they operate.’
He added that the discrepancy was a genuine error on the part of solicitors, which was a result of inadequacies in the commission itself. He said there was ‘confusing and contradictory guidance and a lack of clear answers from the LSC – indeed, in some cases the LSC does not even know which category a claim should be in. The complexities of the scheme are what need to be looked at urgently, not the solicitors using it.’
The commission said it recognised the seriousness of the claims and was taking steps to recover overpayments and address the system failures. Chief executive Carolyn Regan said: ‘We are strengthening the controls in our systems and working with providers to reinforce the importance of accurate claims, eligibility assessment and record keeping. This is being implemented through an action plan with the support and engagement of the Ministry of Justice.’
She added that it was ‘important to look at the report in the context of the scale’ of its work, which included 2.9 million legal cases last year.
Legal aid minister Willy Bach told PF that he was 'extremely disappointed that the Legal Service Commission's accounts have been qualified'.
'We have already directed the LSC to put in place a recovery plan to ensure that in the future all public funds are appropriately spent. The recovery plan is being closely overseen by the ministry. In addition to the work already in hand to ensure that the LSC finances are put on a sound footing, I have asked Sir Ian Magee to review urgently the existing delivery and governance arrangements of the legal aid system. Sir Ian is due to report early in the new year,' he added.
