Using experts in legally aided cases

On this page:

Improving the quality of services we purchase
Work so far
Approach
Building a strategy
Setting up a pilot to reform delivery of health expert witnesses in public law family
Help us understand the marketplace
For more information.

Improving the quality of services we purchase

Our transformation programme aims to improve the quality of services that we purchase on behalf of clients, while making the best use of a limited budget.

We are aiming to create a sustainable legal aid system, with quality, access and value for money at its heart.

The focus in Legal Aid Reform: the Way Ahead has been on solicitors’ fees, which comprise the bulk of the budget spend.

We are also exploring the extent to which this new approach can and should be extended to expert services.

Work so far

We consulted in 2004 on 'The use of experts, quality, price and procedures in publicly funded cases'. In 2005 we published an interim summary report on the consultation. It included:

proposals to review guidance on when and why it is appropriate to instruct experts
measures to control the amounts paid for experts in individual cases
proposals to develop quality assurance measures.

When Lord Carter’s review of legal aid was announced, work on experts was put on hold. This was due to uncertainty of the outcome of the review and the impact it would have on experts.

Due to the time that has passed and the changes that have taken place since the consultation was launched, we will not be publishing a full response to consultation.

The responses we received to this consultation have been valuable, and are being reviewed as part of our current programme of work.

Approach

The way forward is being considered in light of wider changes in the overall reform of legal aid and analysis of experts’ costs.

It is clear that in some areas the financial position now makes targeting the cost of experts a key priority.

We are developing priorities and strategy for addressing expert costs and assuring quality. We plan to engage further with external stakeholders.

We also intend to streamline processes, making it easier for legal aid providers to procure the services of a quality assured expert. This will help to assure:

the client that they are receiving a quality service
the taxpayer and the LSC that value for money is being achieved.

Building a strategy

Experts are a numerous and disparate group, all with different issues and concerns.

We will first prioritise groups of experts to work with.

We will pilot our strategies with a view to eventually assuring quality, access and value for money from services procured from all types of expert (including interpreters).

We plan to engage with:

experts, and their professional bodies
legal aid service providers, and their professional bodies.

We will aim to keep the clients’ best interests at the centre of our strategy.

To ensure that our strategies are aligned, we have established links with:

several external organisations and initiatives
other government departments and jurisdictions.

We are collating information to improve our understanding of the use of experts from a variety of sources, including a file sampling exercise. We will use this to inform our decision-making.

If you have any information you think will be helpful to us, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Setting up a pilot to reform delivery of health expert witnesses in public law family

We're inviting NHS Trusts and other public, private or voluntary organisations to apply to take part in setting up a pilot. This project sees multi-disciplinary teams presenting jointly instructed health expert witness services in Public Law Childcare Proceedings.

Help us understand the marketplace

We are carrying out a survey of expert witnesses with the legal training consultancy for non-lawyers Bond Solon. This survey will increase our understanding of costs, diversity, processes and the marketplace.

Complete the survey electronically (see Documents) or print it out and post. Please send completed questionnaires by 4 August to:

Emily Paddy
Legal Services Commission
4 Abbey Orchard Street
London
SW1P 2BS
DX: 328 London

For more information

Please email Sonja Mahoney if you would like to contribute information or if you require further information.

Visit the Transforming Legal Aid pages for more detail on changes to our legal aid schemes.

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Last updated: 03 November 2008