PAYMENT OF COSTS OF LEGAL AID (Hansard, 26 July 1982)

§ The Solicitor-General
I beg to move amendment No. 12, in page 8, line 38, leave out 'section 37(1)' and insert: `subsection (1) of section 37'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendment No. 13.

§ The Solicitor-General
This is a new matter, but I can deal with it briefly none the less. The amendments enable the Lord Chancellor to prohibit by regulation some or all forms of topping up in criminal legal aid. Topping up is the payment for counsel or a solicitor acting for a legally assisted person in addition to the sums that are paid by legal aid. It may be divided into three categories—first, the payment for additional fees of lawyers acting under a legal aid order; secondly, payment for additional lawyers, for instance instructing leading counsel, when legal aid orders are limited to one counsel; thirdly, payment to secure additional evidence, such as the employment of an inquiry agent to trace witnesses.
In civil legal aid, all forms of topping up are prohibited, but in criminal legal aid there is at present no restriction. It is clear that the first form of topping up that I mentioned should be prohibited. It would be offensive if solicitors said "I shall act for you on legal aid, but I cannot work for the rates that I will get from legal aid so you must make up the difference". I emphasise that we have no evidence that that has happened, but it is important that we ensure that it cannot. It would undermine the legal aid system if it occurred. Both halves of the profession support that view.
The other forms of topping up raise more difficult questions. The Lord Chancellor would not intend to prohibit them without the agreement of the profession. The Bar and the Law Society have naturally been consulted about the amendment. I invite the House to support it.