UK Law Articles
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The Times
May 8 1998
60% rise in legal aid fraud inquiries
BY FRANCES GIBB
LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
THE number of solicitors' firms investigated for legal aid fraud has risen by more than 60 per cent in five years, the Lord Chancellor's Department announced last night.
Some 159 firms were investigated in 1996-97 compared with 98 in 1992-93. The number of individuals investigated by the Legal Aid Board and the police for making suspected false declarations to obtain legal aid has also tripled.
But the amount of cash recovered from solicitors who made fraudulent claims, while rising over recent years, fell last year. More than £1.1 million was repaid by firms in 1995-96 compared with £807,706 in 1996-97. Just £20,153 was reclaimed in 1992-93.
The figures were released in a written answer by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Chancellor, Geoff Hoon, on the day that Lord Irvine of Lairg defended his plans to cut legal aid for most personal injury claims.
He seemed to try to defuse tensions over his plans, telling hundreds of personal injury lawyers at a conference in London that they "should be proud of the way they have adapted to change". They had "taken the leap" and accepted that conditional fees [no win, no fee] can bring greater access to justice for their clients, he told the annual conference of the Association for Personal Injury Lawyers.
But Caroline Harmer, president of the 3,000-strong association, challenged the Government to withdraw its proposals, which she said hit the most successful and least expensive part of legal aid.
