Hillsborough Law: Properly fund legal aid for bereaved families

News

The Law Society of England and Wales has today (27 November) highlighted the importance of legal aid for inquests, as it gave oral evidence to the Public Bill Committee on the Public Office (Accountability) Bill (known as the Hillsborough Law).

Richard Miller, the Law Society’s head of justice, spoke to the Committee on behalf of the legal profession.

“We welcome the Bill’s intention to provide legal aid for bereaved families during inquests,” said Law Society president Mark Evans.

“However, legal aid capacity is already stretched and won’t meet the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) projected demand – going from about 250 to 11,400 cases per year – without significant financial investment in developing a well-staffed, well-trained and sustainable sector.

“Very few providers carry out inquest work, which reflects the limited scope of inquest provision under the current legal aid arrangements, together with low fees which have not increased since 1996.

“To ensure people have solicitors to turn to in terrible circumstances, fees must be sustainable. Law Society research* found that all housing legal aid providers surveyed were making a loss, as were 47% of family legal aid providers. Similar results are likely right across civil legal aid provision.

“Creating parity of arms for victims is a key provision in this Bill. We therefore urge MPs to call for substantial investment and workforce planning to ensure that legal aid support for inquests is appropriately resourced, while maintaining the wider legal aid sector.”

Notes to editors

• * The Law Society submitted research to the Ministry of Justice Review of Civil Legal Aid in 2024.
• Mark Evans has declared an interest as he had a school friend, John McBrien, who died at Hillsborough aged 18. Mark was a bearer at his funeral.
• Find out ore about the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.