The Bar Council has welcomed the new Parliamentary report on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), warning that it confirms what the Bar has been saying for years: the legal aid system is no longer sustainable and access to justice is being steadily eroded.

The Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) latest report concludes that the MoJ remains unconvinced it has done enough to secure the future of legal aid, highlighting ongoing gaps in provision, and a continued failure to understand the real-world impact of earlier reforms.

Kirsty Brimelow KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:

“Legal aid is a vital public service, and yet it is not on a sustainable footing. Barristers working in legal aid are deeply committed to justice for the most vulnerable, but the goodwill is evaporating.

“Civil and family legal aid fees are now worth around half of what they were in the mid-1990s. There has been inflation of 26.5% since 2021. Spending on Criminal legal aid has decreased by 10.8% on individual cases. There needs to be index linking or a pay review body so that legal aid fees keep pace with inflation.

"Experienced barristers are being driven away from legal aid work, and so people are left trying to navigate life-changing legal problems without advice or representation."

The PAC report echoes long-standing concerns raised by the Bar Council about the sustainability of the legal aid workforce. Recent Bar Council research found that many family barristers are working 70-hour weeks, taking home low hourly rates, and cross-subsidising publicly funded work with private practice to stay afloat. Without urgent action, the supply of experienced barristers willing and able to do legal aid work will continue to shrink.

The report also raises concerns about the resilience of Ministry of Justice systems following the Legal Aid Agency cyber-attack, with uncertainty over whether sufficient funding is in place to address weaknesses exposed by the attack.

Kirsty Brimelow KC added:

“The Bar Council agrees that the government must clearly set out how system resilience will be improved. Without secure and reliable systems, confidence in the administration of legal aid is weakened, and so access to justice is further undermined.

“Access to justice should not depend on where you live, your income, or your ability to navigate complex digital systems. The government must now act on this report by investing properly in legal aid, widening its scope, and ensuring fees reflect the work required.”

The Committee further criticised the Ministry of Justice’s handling of HMP Dartmoor, describing the decision to sign a 10-year lease on a prison known to have high radon levels as “catastrophic” and taken in “blind panic”. MPs said taxpayers are now set to pay more than £100m for an unusable prison, raising serious concerns about value for money across the justice system.

The Bar Council continues to call for urgent investment in legal aid, the reversal of cuts introduced under LASPO, and processes to ensure legal aid fees keep pace with inflation and reflect the complexity of the work.