Legal Aid Agency paid £500 for poorly handling its decision to cease funding

What happened

The Agency wrongly granted Mr Q funding for a matter that was not eligible for legal aid. The mistake was not discovered for four years, when the funding was withdrawn. Mr Q was very disappointed by this decision. The Agency agreed to send the matter to an independent adjudicator, but there was a substantial delay in doing so. The first adjudicator made an incorrect decision, causing the Agency to appeal, which prolonged matters.

The Agency accepted that there had been poor handling surrounding the adjudication and offered Mr Q £500 in compensation. However, it said its decision to withdraw funding was correct as it should never have been granted. It felt there was no injustice as Mr Q had benefitted by receiving four years of legal aid which he was not entitled to.

What we found

We found that the Agency had wrongly paid out over £20,000 of legal aid to Mr Q, which he should not have received. We agreed that its decision to cease funding was reasonable.

We accepted that Mr Q had gained some benefit from the Agency's funding error as he received a substantial amount of legal advice. However, we also felt that the Agency had not handled the situation well and had failed to adequately explain its position to Mr Q.

We also felt it had not properly considered Mr Q's claimed injustice arising from the extreme disappointment of having his funding stopped. We felt the Agency should take steps to recognise its poor handling of the case.

We felt that it had offered a suitable financial remedy in relation to the adjudication delays.

Putting it right

The Agency apologised to Mr Q and paid him an additional £500 for its poor handling of the case.