Shropshire court chaos fear as solicitors in boycott threat over legal aid

Seven of Shropshire's top legal firms will meet to decide if they should cease providing legal aid work at police stations and courts – excluding the obligation to provide a duty solicitor.

Any decision to withdraw their services could lead to chaos in courts and police stations, with scores of people left representing themselves.

Solicitors covering Newtown police station and Welshpool Magistrates Court have already voted to take action. Mid Wales' Law Society has agreed not to take any legal aid cases from the start of this month.

The move comes after the Ministry of Justice cut legal aid fees by 8.75 per cent last year, and a further 8.75 per cent this year. Solicitors have highlighted the fact there had been no rise in legal aid fees for the past 20 years.

People are entitled to free legal advice if they are arrested and taken to a police station for questioning. Legal aid has been used to help people who cannot afford representation in court, but has been eroded through Government cuts and has led to several restrictions being brought in affecting who is eligible to claim.

Paul Inns, of Hanratty and Co in Newtown, said: "There is considerable concern amongst criminal defence solicitors that the combined impact of the reduction in legal aid rates, together with the introduction of the new duty solicitor criminal contracts will undermine the entire criminal justice system. You will be lucky to find a criminal defence solicitor in Mid Wales."

Andrew Holland, head of the criminal department at Hatchers Solicitors in Shrewsbury, said firms in Shropshire had met to discuss the issues they face in light of the funding cuts.

He said that the current fees for legal aid provide insufficient remuneration and the service is "effectively relying on the goodwill of firms".

Mr Holland warned that if the firms decide to withdraw their services it would have huge impact on courts and police stations.

He said: "You could have a huge raft of unrepresented people in police stations and magistrates courts leading to a massive backlog."

Michael Surzyn, partner and head of crime at PCB Solicitors, said he believed the county's firms could stop providing legal aid work.

He said: "I think there is a very real possibility that Shropshire firms will withdraw from legal aid work unless the cuts are reversed.

"This attack will lead to people being unrepresented. Solicitors are saying that at the current rates it is not worth doing the work."

Mr Surzyn said that firms could end up abandoning criminal law to concentrate on other areas of law which make more money.

A statement from the Mid Wales Law Society said that the cuts made it "unsustainable" to provide legal aid work.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Although the transition will be challenging, the changes we are pressing ahead with are designed to ensure we have a system of criminal legal aid that delivers value for money to taxpayers, that provides high quality legal advice to those that need it most, and that puts the profession on a sustainable footing for the long term.

"Having listened carefully to the case put by the profession, we decided not to reduce advocacy fees but instead to work closely with them to explore alternative ways of securing these savings. In July 2016 an independent reviewer will start an assessment of the impact of the new arrangements on access to justice and quality of the service."