In June 2024 the law firm Duncan Lewis issued a claim for judicial review, in its own name, challenging the Lord Chancellor’s failure to take any action to resolve the ongoing crisis in the provision of “controlled work” in the field of immigration and asylum. Controlled work is the form of Legal Aid which covers life-or-death matters including asylum claims and appeals.
The claim was based on extensive evidence from across the sector showing a large and growing gap between supply and demand, which is depriving large numbers of vulnerable people of access to critical legal representation. One of the primary causes of this crisis is that the rates payable for controlled work remain at the same level as in 1996 – equating to a 48% real-terms reduction. Many providers have been forced to scale back their work in this area because it has become so heavily loss-making. Despite this, the Lord Chancellor had previously maintained that the sector had sufficient capacity to meet demand.
The Lord Chancellor has now recognised the urgency of the issues raised by the claim and, as part of the settlement, has committed to making a decision on raising rates in coming months. A consultation on any proposed increase will begin within eight weeks of that decision, with the aim of implementing changes promptly. This represents a significant step forward in addressing the ongoing crisis.
Chris Buttler KC, Eleanor Mitchell and Jack Boswell were instructed by Toufique Hossain, Jeremy Bloom, Nina Kamp and Elizabeth Cole of Duncan Lewis.
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