Legal aid body criticised for not doing more to tackle fraud

The financial watchdog said the credibility of the legal aid system was being undermined

The agency that pays out tens of millions of pounds in legal aid payments has been criticised by the Northern Ireland Audit Office.

Nearly £69m was paid out last year by the Legal Services Agency NI (LSA).

A report published by the audit office said the LSA is not doing enough to identify and tackle potential fraud.

It also expresses disappointment at delays in implementing recommendations made in critical reports published 18 months ago.

'Slow progress'

A report by the Public Accounts Committee at Stormont in January 2017 was highly critical of the way the agency managed the legal aid budget and made five recommendations for improvement.

Kieran Donnelly, the comptroller and auditor general, said the Department of Justice and the LSA have not yet taken action on all of the recommendations.

"The delays in implementing the recommendations of the committee's report undermine the credibility of the legal aid system," he said in a statement.

"I accept that there are significant constraints on the delivery of the recommendations in some areas without a minister and a legislative assembly.

"Nevertheless, I am disappointed by the slow progress being made."

He said he would continue to monitor the situation and that he expected to see a "substantial improvement in the pace and delivery of legal aid reform".

Kieran Donnelly said he was disappointed in the slow progress being made

The audit office report said its accounts for the LSA are qualified, which means it does not get a financial clean bill of health, because of two limitations.

Mr Donnelly said one of them was that he could not satisfy himself "that material fraud and error did not exist within eligibility assessments of legal aid applicants and in expenditure from legal aid funds (£68.8m)".

He also expressed concern about the system used by the LSA to predict how much the legal aid bill will be each year.

While noting that the level of error in the estimated provisions has reduced during the past four years, he said it "remains unacceptably high".

The report notes that legislation needed to establish a proposed registration scheme for legal aid providers, which the audit office cited as an essential element of ensuring that publicly-funded services deliver value for money, cannot be progressed in the absence of a justice minister at Stormont.