Autumn budget: Further cuts to justice ‘untenable’, Law Society warns

Chancery Lane body says MoJ needs essential funding to address courts backlog

The Law Society has warned that further cuts to the Ministry of Justice’s budget are “untenable” and would embolden criminals while causing victims to lose faith in the justice system, ahead of Labour’s Autumn budget announcement tomorrow.

Labour’s first budget for 14 years will be delivered by chancellor Rachel Reeves tomorrow, with rumours swirling about what the government will do to shore up the country’s finances.

New Law Society president Richard Atkinson welcomed Reeves’ assurance that there will be no return to austerity under a Labour government, but expressed concern over reports of potential cuts to some departmental budgets.

Atkinson described any cuts to the Ministry of Justice’s already depleted budget as “untenable” and urged the chancellor to provide the necessary funding to “address the courts backlog, tackle the crisis in civil and criminal legal aid, and implement stalled reforms to the legal aid means test”.

Atkinson, a solicitor specialising in criminal law, warned, “Unless investment is forthcoming, criminals will feel emboldened and victims will lose faith in our justice system.”

With this in mind, the Law Society expressed its hope that, in addition to securing the necessary budget for the Ministry of Justice to address the court backlog, the government will also assign Skills England, its skills agency, the task of mapping out existing skills gaps in legal services. This, it said, would enable firms to better address the challenges they face in acquiring talent.

The Chancery Lane body also voiced hope that the government will continue to offer incentives for firms to hire legal apprentices, enabling smaller firms to provide opportunities for those starting their legal careers. This comes in response to Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement last month that Labour plans to exclude some level 7 apprenticeships from levy funding.

“The UK government has put forward ambitious plans to get our economy growing, break down barriers to opportunity and keep our streets safe,” Atkinson said.

“Legal services are integral to achieving these missions and our sector stands ready to play its part”, he continued. “By implementing the changes and policies we outline, legal services, from the high street legal practice to the global law firm, can rapidly be unleashed to help drive innovation and economic growth across all our communities.”