Solicitors in Devon no longer face a four-hour round trip to provide police station advice after the Legal Aid Agency decided the remaining provider in Barnstaple should be able to cover the town on their own with backup when needed.

To ensure sufficient coverage, the agency consulted on changes that could have seen Barnstaple merge with, or be covered by, the two nearest duty schemes – Exeter, which the agency said was 70 minutes away, and Bridgwater, which is at least 60-90 minutes away.

However, the agency was told by consultation respondents that travel would be at least two hours each way and a duty solicitor’s home is often further away from Barnstaple than the office. Lengthy travel times, especially at night, combined with work covering home schemes, could be dangerous.

Respondents said Exeter and Bridgwater were not sufficiently resourced to service their own scheme and Barnstaple. Bridgwater covers four police station custody unites – Bridgwater, Taunton, Minehead and Weston-Super-Mare.

The agency was also told that the Barnstaple provider was sufficiently resourced to cover the scheme.

Suggested solutions included increasing the mileage rate of 45p per mile and covering hotel costs for overnight attendances. Some suggested remote advice but the LAA’s consultation response states that this was ‘firmly rejected’ by the Appropriate Adult Services.

The LAA said it has no power to pay travel for duty solicitor work without changes to the contract and regulations ‘and this would need full and proper consideration by that team’. Neither was it in a position to cover hotel costs or increase the mileage rate as it ‘must operate within the restraint of the contract’.

The agency said it was clear from the consultation that the remaining provider felt they could cover the scheme.

‘This provider currently covers the majority of the slots on the scheme and felt that it would be able to continue to do so and they have a number of fee earners, other than their duty solicitor, who are able to cover cases. They can also instruct local accredited representatives to undertake individual cases. Also, other providers in neighbouring schemes have suggested that the scheme membership remains as is and they will cover any excess cases as backup,’ the agency said.

The Barnstaple scheme will remain with a single member. Back-up providers from neighbouring schemes will not be expected to attend within 45 minutes. However, the agency said it will monitor the impact and ‘consider other options’ if there are unreasonable delays.

The agency added: ‘We acknowledge the responses from consultees on such issues as remuneration and the use of remote advice. We will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice policy team and other justice system leads to explore opportunities for change in these areas in the medium/longer-term.’

 

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