In her public spending audit last week, chancellor Rachel Reeves called an immediate halt to ‘non-essential’ expenditure on external consultants. This is a very old chestnut indeed for government bean counters who want to hang tough on public spending. Reeves’ predecessor Jeremy Hunt ordered local authorities to do the same as recently as March.

But could there be something in it for access to justice? A quick perusal of Ministry of Justice annual reports reveals that the department has spent an average of nearly £11.3m each year on consultancy services since 2020-21. By coincidence, the Law Society has called for an immediate injection of £11.3m into civil legal aid for early advice to safeguard the system pending the outcome of the ongoing sustainability review.

Over to you, lord chancellor.

Topics