  Legal aid celebrates its 60th birthday year and in recognition of its importance, LAPG and Young Legal Aid Lawyers have brought together a group of interested MPs to form an All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid.
The group will be launched with a reception in the House of Commons, Committee Room 10 on 2 June 2009 at 5pm. Speakers will include the chair of the group, Karen Buck MP, Lord Bach, LAPG chair Roy Morgan, Mike Mansfield QC and Louise Christian.
The last few years have seen a major ongoing upheaval in the legal aid system whereby practitioners in many areas of law are being paid greatly reduced fixed fees for cases and it is proposed that competitive tendering will be introduced for some areas of legal work. LAPG and YLAL believe the implications of these changes for access to justice, which have been introduced by secondary legislation, have not been sufficiently examined by Parliament and they hope that the new all-party group will begin to address that imbalance.
It is the stated aim of the group to "to promote parliamentary and public understanding of the importance of the role of publicly funded legal services as a pillar of the welfare state and in reducing inequalities in society. To scrutinise and influence any proposals for the reform of legal aid provision to ensure that access to justice for all members of society is preserved and improved."
LAPG and YLAL have campaigned tirelessly for access to justice and recognise that MPs are often on the front line when it comes to unmet legal need. MPs are in a unique position through their weekly surgeries to meet constituents who feel that for one reason or another they have not had access to justice.
It is hoped that the new group will act as a forum for discussion of social exclusion issues surrounding legal aid and help to promote the work that many legal aid practices carry out as the fourth emergency service
Speaking before the event Karen Buck MP said, "I am delighted to have been asked to be chair of the new All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid. Legal aid is key to tackling social exclusion, especially in these hard economic times. I am looking forward to working with LAPG and YLAL to preserve access to justice for the most vulnerable in our communities."
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