Advice and Assistance (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 (Draft)<br />Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 (Draft)
I welcome Dr Richard Simpson, the Deputy Minister for Justice, to speak to and move motions S1M-2732 and S1M-2734, which members will have with their papers. The papers also include two background papers, J1/02/6/1 and J1/02/6/2.
The regulations are the annual uprating of the financial limits for both civil legal aid and advice and assistance. In essence, this is a technical exercise to uprate the levels in the light of inflation and it happens each April. It is not intended, at this point, to change eligibility substantially. The wider issues of eligibility will no doubt be debated soon in the context of the Justice 1 Committee's report on its legal aid inquiry. However, we see no case for holding up this annual exercise for that reason.
Thank you, minister. Does anyone else wish to speak on this matter?
I hope that the minister will accept that I support both measures strongly. However, the measures constitute annual upratings. Are most legal aid provisions uprated annually or are some uprated triennially? There may be a case for everything being uprated annually.
Some provisions are not uprated automatically at all. We realise that the capital issue is somewhat out of date—we need to address the capital limitations.
There may be a case for an annual uprating of not only these limits, but limits across the board.
I accept that there are some grounds for that suggestion. The committee may wish to consider the possibility of finding a way of uprating automatically, rather than the Executive having to lay regulations on uprating by small amounts every year. There could be a triennial review for considering uprating in greater detail. That would save the time of the justice committees and of the Scottish Executive's justice team. I expect that annual rating was introduced when inflation was a far greater factor than it is now.
That makes sense. The weekly disposable income is increased by only £1, which I cannot understand, although the minister explained that the increase was attached to an increase in benefits. I am sure that the annual cost of living goes up by more than £1 a week. Given all the paperwork that is involved, we must find another way of looking at and dealing properly with financial limits, in addition to the minister's suggestion of a triennial review. That will form part of our inquiry.
I have nothing to add.
The question is, that motion S1M-2732, in the name of Mr Jim Wallace, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
That the Justice 1 Committee recommends that the Advice and Assistance (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 (Draft) be approved.
Motion moved,
That the Justice 1 Committee recommends that the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 (Draft) be approved.—[Dr Richard Simpson.]
Motion agreed to.
The committee is required to report to Parliament on the instruments. We will submit our usual, short, formulaic report. Are members content for that report to be e-mailed to them? Thereafter, they may register their dissent, if any.
Members indicated agreement.
I thank the deputy minister for attending.