More than £11bn in savings could be made by the Treasury over the next decade if the government were to invest in legal aid, according to a new report.

The Value of Justice for All report estimates that providing specialist free legal advice could save around £4.5bn for every 500,000 people who receive it in the first year. The finding is based on figures showing that, in 2023, provision of legal aid saved the Treasury some £9,100 per case.

The report, commissioned by Access to Justice Foundation in partnership with the Bar Council, said for every £1 spent on legal aid in 2023, there was a saving to government of £2.71.

More than 20 free specialist legal advice providers were interviewed by researchers from Pragmatix Advisory Limited, who also gathered data from 54 organisations that helped more than 129,000 people last year. The report said the majority of advice providers spoken to received funding from ‘a combination of…sources’ which could ‘lead to complex financial management of budgets for advice providers’.

It acknowledged ‘in some cases’ the cost to government of a positive outcome from free legal advice ‘may be a net loss’, adding that ‘alternative outcomes for these individuals and families will more often than not result in costs to local or central government which are generally much higher’.

The report found for each person who receives advice, 0.39 additional household members become employable. It estimated that advising 100,000 clients could lead to 38,900 more people entering the workforce and generating approximately £81m in income tax and national insurance contributions, based on an average annual salary of £20,000.

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Bar chair Sam Townend KC said the  government ‘should adopt a fresh approach’ to legal aid and ‘recognise this is an area where it can spend to save. The report makes plain how a properly funded free legal advice sector would make a huge difference to the hundreds of thousands of people behind each case, those working in the system and the public purse in just one year alone.’

Clare Carter, chief executive of the Access to Justice Foundation, said: ‘Without increased and sustained investment, we risk failing the people, places, and communities who need us most. This report demonstrates that funding free legal advice is both an ethical obligation and a wise financial decision.’

Meanwhile research from the Law Society and the Legal Service Board has found that 38% of people with legal issues did not receive any help, while 13% assumed it was too expensive and 8% did not know how to find an adviser.

Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: ‘It is disheartening that our justice system has failed to provide support for those who cannot pay legal costs. Not only have massive cuts in legal aid left countless without access to justice, but weak public legal education has also left millions in the dark.’

 

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