LEGAL ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE (FINANCIAL CONDITIONS) REGULATIONS 1973 (Hansard, 20 March 1973)

§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (LORD HAILSHAM OF SAINT MARYLEBONE)
My Lords, I rise to move the first of the two Motions relating to legal advice and assistance. The second Motion performs the same operation as regards the Scottish Regulations, and, though they must be moved separately, the House may find it convenient to discuss them together because, so far as I know, no separate point arises. The two Motions give approval to the Regulations necessary to give effect to the Legal Advice and Assistance Act which we passed last Session, and which will be fresh in your Lordships' memory. The Regulations contained in the two Motions are confined to the limits on "disposable capital"—a term to which I will return—and they bring these limits up to the same figures as those we passed for the old Legal Aid Scheme on November 16 last, so following, although not exactly in accordance with, the advice I received from the Legal Aid Advisory Committee. I have also received, as noble Lords will be aware, advice from that Committee that the income limits of both the old and the new schemes should be raised. This advice has not, I should like to say, been rejected by the Government, but it is still under consideration; and I will make an announcement concerning the income limits as soon as I can. I am sorry 632 that it has not been possible to make this announcement regarding income limits in time to coincide with the commencement of the new Act in April. In the absence of such an announcement, the limits will of course remain as stated in the Act itself. In the meantime, the present Regulations are required to preserve the link between the old scheme and the new.
My Lords, the effect of the Regulations is to raise the limit of "disposable capital"—again I use the words in inverted commas—from £125 to £250. This is the figure we passed in respect of the old scheme of legal aid on November 16. It is slightly less generous than the figure of £325, the limit at which capital is ignored for the purpose of supplementary benefits, but that is because the supplementary benefits scheme makes no allowance for dependants. The Legal Aid Scheme does make allowances for dependants, as does the new scheme which we are now discussing. The figure of £250 contained in the two sets of Regulations is more generous by £40 than the increase which would be indicated by the rise in the cost of living since the limits were last fixed before November, 1972.
The Regulations will come into force on April 2, 1973, that is, the same date as Parts I and III of the new Act. As the House will recollect, the effect will be that anyone can go straight to a solicitor who has agreed to provide legal advice and assistance, and he will fill in a simple form regarding means. If the applicant is found financially eligible, he will be entitled without further question to free legal advice and assistance up to the figure of £25 plus any excess due to V.A.T. Thus, the £25 figure remains clear of V.A.T. Dependent upon his income he may be asked to pay a contribution towards this advice; but in the case of those within the income limits the advice and assistance will be free. After the first £25 plus V.A.T. further advice and assistance will be available under the new scheme, but in that case the solicitor will need the authority of the appropriate Law Society Committee to incur further expense.
The scheme also makes an important extension to the provision of legal aid in its strict sense. It entitles a client to legal representation by a solicitor if the solicitor happens to be within the precincts of a county court or magistrates' 633 court, or, in the case of the Scottish scheme, the sheriff court. The only limitation is that the client must not already be in receipt of ordinary legal aid in respect of the same matter, and the court must either request the solicitor to give his aid or, alternatively, approve of his doing so.
Steps are being taken to advertise the new scheme. The campaign will be aimed to reach both those entitled to give, and those entitled to receive, the benefits of the scheme. There will be advertisements on T.V. and in the Press. There will be posters in post offices, and on buses and elsewhere. Explanatory leaflets will be available in post offices. More detailed pamphlets will be available to citizen's advice bureaux, hospitals, local authorities, and others likely to be in a position to put potential clients in touch with solicitors. The various local law societies under the inspiration of the Law Society itself are themselves undertaking a separate campaign urging solicitors to join the scheme, and meetings of solicitors in connection with the campaign will be held in the coming month.
I have said that the capital limits which are being raised by the regulations refer to "disposable capital". This means the net sum which remains after making various disregards and allowances. Actually the deductions in the Legal Aid Scheme proper are somewhat more sophisticated, and therefore more generous than those permitted by the new Advice and Assistance Scheme. This is because, unlike the Legal Aid Scheme proper, this scheme has to be operated by solicitors and not by the Supplementary Benefits Commission who have expert staff at their disposal.
Under the new scheme there will be disregards in respect of household furniture and effects, personal clothing, tools of trade and half of the net value of the dwelling house after first disregarding the first £6,000. There will also be allowances for dependants—£125 for the first, £80 for the second, and £40 for the third and subsequent dependants. I hope that I have given the House an indication of what the Regulations are about and what they do; and in these circumstances I beg to move the Motion which stands in my name.

§ LORD HOY
My Lords, we are grateful to the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor for the explanation that he has given of both these Orders. We have no objection to their being taken together. He has anticipated questions that we might have asked. We should have wanted to know what "disposable capital" represented. We now have a complete explanation and it is a little more generous than we had anticipated. I am hound to say to the noble and learned Lord that we are not altogether impressed by the sums available in both cases being raised from £125 to £250. Even on the figures given by the noble and learned Lord and the depreciation that has taken place since the last Order was made, it may well be that this sum of £250 as laid down in both Orders will very quickly be overtaken.
We are also grateful to the noble and learned Lord for the statement about the income limits. Obviously, we had hoped that that would appear in the Order but we willingly accept the explanation he has given and look forward to that part of the statement because one will then be better able to judge all that is involved. Subject to these few remarks, may I once again express our thanks to the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor for what he has said.

§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR
My Lords, the noble Lord has not asked me any fresh questions, but I should like to thank him sincerely for what he said. I appreciate his kind remarks. I agree with him that one will hope in the future that these things will be more generous, but I operate under a difficulty as do all Government Departments.