Select Committee Inquiry into Carter

The House of Commons Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs held its third evidence session in its inquiry into the implementation of the Carter Review of legal aid on Tuesday 30 January 2006. It heard from the Legal Action Group; Advice Services Alliance; Resolution; Mental Health Lawyers Association; Roy Morgan (Morgans Solicitors) and David Jockelson (Miles and Partners). At the session on 23 January Sir Mark Potter, President of the Family Division stated that Legal Aid: a sustainable future was inconsistent with the Carter report and almost as though Carter had not been read. Professor Judith Masson, a member of the Family Justice Council, said that she had just been commissioned by the DCA and the DfES to do work on profiling care proceedings. As regards proposals for bringing in graduated fees in October 2007 she said the Government and LSC would not realisticallv be ready, because they were in the same position when they produced figures in Carter and after Carter as they were now; they had no more research information. For the full news story see March [2007] Fam Law.