Hansard

The Convener: SNP

Item 3 is further evidence in our legal aid inquiry. I welcome the representatives of the Scottish Legal Aid Board. We have with us, in no particular order: ...

Jean Couper (Scottish Legal Aid Board):

Yes. Several of the issues I want to touch on are of concern to the committee.

The Convener: SNP

I ask you to keep your opening statement short. You will be able to come in again at the end of the evidence session, once we have asked all our questions, i...

Jean Couper:

Thank you very much.We are grateful for the opportunity to give evidence. I want to touch on several points that are of specific interest to the committee.It...

The Convener: SNP

I want to consider the criminal justice system more broadly. Paragraph 41 of your written evidence says:"there is scope for improvement in the efficiency and...

Lindsay Montgomery (Scottish Legal Aid Board):

The evidence refers to how we work and how other parts of the system work together. For example, Jean Couper mentioned sanctions. One thing we find is that w...

The Convener: SNP

Can you give the committee an example?

Lindsay Montgomery:

If a court decides to change how it operates intermediate diets, for example, that will affect the time scales to which solicitors must work. Information mus...

The Convener: SNP

Are you saying that such changes happen routinely and that you do not find out about them except by default?

Lindsay Montgomery:

I would not put it as starkly as that. There could be more effective consultation at an earlier stage and discussion of the impact of changes in one area on ...

The Convener: SNP

One of our witnesses, Professor Paterson, suggested that a Scottish legal services commission should be set up to give that kind of strategic overview to the...

Jean Couper:

We certainly see the advantage in the authority that the Legal Services Commission in England has. Its role is to identify needs and to plan how best to addr...

Lindsay Montgomery:

Such a process would not solve all the problems that we are talking about. The Legal Services Commission deals with legal aid and associated areas, but it mu...

The Convener: SNP

The previous section of your written evidence refers to the register of firms and solicitors who provide criminal legal assistance, and the code of conduct t...

Lindsay Montgomery:

The key benefit is that we are able to ensure, with the profession, that all criminal practitioners are administering the system in the same way. When we do ...

The Convener: SNP

I note that you say in your evidence that"Over 85% felt that the audit caused them minimal disruption"but on a half-empty, half-full basis. That means that 1...

Lindsay Montgomery:

Some solicitors were less happy than others, but to have introduced a system like that—which means going round other people's offices and looking at what is ...

The Convener: SNP

Have you been able to examine why the 15 per cent were unhappy and felt that there was disruption? Were they justified in taking that view? Have you taken an...

Lindsay Montgomery:

Some people do not like the idea of the Scottish Legal Aid Board having access to their files and offices. No matter what we do, I am not sure that we can re...

The Convener: SNP

Paragraph 43 of your written evidence refers to new guidance for solicitors on applications to instruct counsel or engage expert witnesses, which you touched...

Jean Couper:

Yes, we are.

Lindsay Montgomery:

SLAB has had a working group over recent months that is made up of a wide range of board members, and which examines sanction for counsel. We are at the stag...

The Convener: SNP

Am I being a bit naive? You say that you are trying to clarify the issue with the Executive. I would have thought that that question could be answered simply...

Lindsay Montgomery:

The issue is not that simple. There are questions about the meaning of the legislation. If the Executive takes the view that there is scope for greater discr...

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): Con

I will pick up on your reference to the forums that are required for greater communication and consultation. Will not that just involve more bodies? Will not...

Jean Couper:

Information that is fed back from solicitors is ad hoc and anecdotal. We see advantage in capturing that information, which we obtain and try to make the bes...

Lindsay Montgomery:

Solicitors have an important place in the process. We value the information that we obtain from solicitors, which is one of the reasons why we have made many...

Phil Gallie: Con

Your evidence explains that 70 per cent of criminal legal aid accounts are now covered by the fixed-fees regime. You also suggest that solicitors and their c...

Lindsay Montgomery:

When the introduction of fixed fees was proposed, the profession's substantial reaction was that the system would not work and that it would be grossly unfai...

Phil Gallie: Con

There is a view that opting for fixed fees has led to a lower level of service being provided. Inevitably, when solicitors are involved in cases for which a ...