I was concerned to read the article headlined "Solicitors to ditch legal aid cases" (The Argus, May 2).

I would like to reassure readers there is no shortage of legal aid advice available to people in Sussex.

The reforms are specifically about maximising access to legal aid for the future.

The legal aid budget is not being cut. In fact Vera Baird, the minister for legal aid, has guaranteed a spend of £2 billion per year until 2011.

Instead the reforms are aimed at getting better value for money and rebalancing the budget between criminal and civil legal aid.

This is aimed at maximising access for the future so we can continue to increase the numbers of people helped. Making the system work as efficiently as possible will mean we can put more emphasis on civil and family legal aid so we can help as many vulnerable people as possible. The reforms are a natural progression, building on the successful introduction of fixed fees in areas of both crime and civil work in recent years.

This has already produced significant results. During the year from April 2005 to March 2006 more people got civil legal aid help than at any point since the Community Legal Service was created in 2000.

This included more than 58,000 people who were helped across the South East. We are continuing to work towards implementation of various elements of the legal aid reform programme as planned.

This will ensure solicitors have information about the schemes as early as possible.

I would like to thank those dedicated advice providers who share our commitment to legal aid and look forward to working with them to develop new local Community Legal Advice services that will improve access to justice and promote social inclusion.

  • Martin Seel, regional director, London and the South East Legal Services Commission