Legal Aid Agency Launches Investigation into 17,000 Inactive Cases on IT Systems
The Legal Aid Agency has launched a comprehensive review of 17,000 cases that have been inactive on its IT systems for the past year. This exercise is aimed at ensuring that only genuinely ongoing cases are live on the agency’s systems, helping to predict legal aid expenditure and manage risks effectively.
While the agency typically does not conduct this type of review annually, it is conducting this exercise alongside regular checks on inactive cases. The agency has identified that most of the cases are special Children Act cases, with 5,000 being civil non-family cases and 1,700 housing-related cases.
Although the agency was unable to confirm if practitioners in the 17,000 cases are owed money, it clarified that the review is not intended to determine the amount of unclaimed payments. Additionally, the agency is working on a process with digital colleagues to allow providers to indicate whether a case is ongoing or will be billed on the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS).
This proactive approach by the Legal Aid Agency demonstrates its commitment to ensuring the efficient management of legal aid expenditure and providing clarity on the status of cases. Stay tuned for further updates on this important initiative.