A loan fund akin to the student loans scheme and a ‘polluter pays’ funding mechanism are among ideas advanced today for legal aid funding by the Law Society.

Launching its interim Access to Justice Review, the Society called for a ‘radical rethink’ of legal aid funding to allay concerns that large sections of the public are being denied access to justice. Chancery Lane is inviting responses from the legal profession and other interested parties to help develop solutions.

The Society says that cuts to the legal aid budget have resulted in fewer solicitors providing legal aid, making it harder for those seeking legal advice and representation to access the justice system.

Among ideas mooted in the review is a loan fund that would distribute cash which would became repayable if the litigant achieved a particular income threshold - like the student loan system. It suggests that, because many cases that require legal aid come about as a result of failings or incorrect decisions made by prosecution authorities or public bodies, those bodies could be required to pay into a legal aid fund where they have lost a case against a publicly funded defendant. This is described as a ‘polluter pays’ scheme.

The report also explores options for reducing the cost and complexity of the justice system, which it says is a major driver of the cost of legal aid.

Law Society president Robert Heslett said: ‘The whole legal aid system has lost its way. Over the past few years funding has been stretched and reduced in both real and actual terms.

‘We consider that a radical rethink is needed. If not, there is a very real risk that those solicitors supplying legal aid services, already disillusioned and fragmented, will eventually disappear or become incapable of being effective.’

He added: ‘The Law Society believes that the government’s obligation to society to ensure access to justice has to begin with the realisation that decisions as to funding should flow from an assessment of need rather than from an arbitrary budget allocation. The Law Society believes that this issue needs public debate and discussion and we have launched this interim review as part of that process.’

The Society has organised events around the country to discuss the issues raised in the review, beginning on 19 April 2010 as well as a seminar in London in May.

To find out more visit www.lawsociety.org.uk/accesstojustice.

Meanwhile pro bono organisation LawWorks is holding a Question Time style debate exploring ‘legal aid after the election’.

The event will be held at the office of Norton Rose at 3 More London Riverside, London SE1, on Tuesday 30 March between 6pm and 9pm.

The panel will comprise: Law Society chief executive Des Hudson; legal aid minister Lord Bach; shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve QC and shadow secretary of state for justice David Howarth.

To attend, contact Kathie Clark at LawWorks on 020 7090 7365.