REPORT
The Law Society By Beth Quinn, Key Account Manager, The Law Society Beth Quinn ACCESS TO JUSTICE New research on legal aid means tests proposals The Law Society have commissioned new research which has shown that a shakeup of legal aid financial eligibility criteria risks being undermined by a failure to account for spiralling inflation in those changes proposed by the Ministry of Justice. The Law Society commissioned Professor Donald Hirsch to follow up his research that the government undertook to review its criteria for who can receive legal aid. The new analysis confirms that the Ministry of Justice’s proposed changes to the means test should lead to more people on low incomes becoming eligible for legal aid. However, the Ministry of Justice oversights risk partially – and in some cases fully-reversing improvements over time. The most significant omission is the failure to update cost-of-living allowances regularly in line with inflation. The Ministry of Justice proposes using 2019 expenditure benchmarks through to 2026, but with cost-of-living crises these are already out of date (prices are expected to have risen by 20% by 2026). Single parent families will be disadvantaged compared to other types of households as the proposed changes fail to recognise one-parent families must budget a higher proportion of their income to pay for their children’s needs relative to twoparent families. Professor Hirsch suggests an additional allowance for single parents, which we support.
Successful candidates will take office at the conclusion of the AGM on 12 October 2022 except where they are filling those casual vacancies, when they take office immediately. Unless stated otherwise the normal term of office of a Council Member is 4 years. List of seats to be filled include: Criminal Defence Criminal Prosecution Services Employment Ethnic Minorities Family Legal Aid LGBT+ Private Client Women Lawyers Further information at: www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/newsarticles/preliminary-notice-of-council-elections-2022 WELLBEING Best practice guidance for supporting wellbeing in the workplace Most solicitors are likely to say they work well under pressure. But when pressure develops into negative stress, it can start to affect performance. The Law Society have developed a guide that contains advice and resources to safeguard and promote employees’ wellbeing in the workplace. It focuses on three themes: Support Education and Training Culture
More information on the Law Society website at: www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/legal-aid/legal-aid-meanstest-review
The guidance includes storyboards with practical steps that you can use to approach wellbeing conversations with employees. It also features case studies from firms including Pinsent Masons, Farrer & Co, Macfarlanes, Freeths, Giles Wilson and Thrive Law.
PRACTICE NOTES
It's relevant to firms of all sizes, with specific recommendations for different sizes of firm.
Undertakings The Law Society’s Practice Note on Professional Undertakings has been drafted and is now going through our checking and governance process. We hope to be able to publish it in the next few weeks. NATIONAL LAW SOCIETY NEWS Council Elections Preliminary notice of the Law Society’s Council elections 2022 has been issued. We have seats that will fall vacant on the expiry of the terms of office of the current Council members at our AGM (12 October 2022), bar Sussex and Criminal Prosecution Services, where casual vacancies have arisen. 28 | SURREYLAWYER
This guidance has been designed for solicitors, managers, learning and development, diversity and inclusion and HR professionals. It applies to lawyers at any stage of their career, as well as business services support staff. The guidance is also transferable across other industry sectors. Read more at: www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/hr-and-peoplemanagement/supporting-wellbeing-in-the-workplaceguidance-for-best-practice
