Police station: Demand for legal advice going up
The lack of training grants for aspiring criminal defence solicitors “risks entrenching the current trajectory toward collapse” of the scheme, an academic has argued.
Dr Susan Rockey, from Exeter University’s law school, said her research showed that lack of funding was “consistently identified as a barrier” to entry, particularly among working-class respondents and those most committed to specialising in criminal legal aid.
This was against a background of most duty solicitors being aged 45 and over.
She gathered responses from 193 law students under the age of 35 who aspired to become criminal legal aid solicitors.
Almost three-quarters were aged from 18 to 24, with the largest group (over 41%) coming from working-class backgrounds. Seven out of 10 were female.
Almost all of the students (95%) said full funding of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) would make specialisation easier.
As the proportion of funding decreased, there was a “corresponding increase” in the number of those who believed this make specialism more difficult.
Dr Rockey said there was “an urgent need” for systemic reform and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) “must consider committing to fully funding training” for aspiring criminal legal aid solicitors.
“Failure to act risks entrenching the current trajectory toward collapse, with serious consequences for access to justice, the rule of law, and the legitimacy of the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
“Restoring generational diversity within the duty solicitor workforce is not merely a workforce issue; it is fundamental to safeguarding the future integrity and fairness of the criminal justice system itself.”
Writing in the International Journal of the Legal Profession, Dr Rockey said that without the financial capacity to attract the next generation, criminal legal aid firms would be “unable to replenish the duty solicitor workforce that is ageing rapidly”.
This would have “serious implications” for the future sustainability of the duty solicitor scheme.
“As senior practitioners near retirement, the declining number of younger solicitors threatens the scheme’s long-term viability.”
The survey confirmed the study’s contention that the MoJ’s failure to address the barriers firms faced in funding trainees’ SQE fees left them “with even fewer tools” to attract the next generation of duty solicitors, “exacerbating the systemic age imbalance”.
Figures from 2024 showed that 25 of the 190 duty solicitor schemes had fewer solicitors than required to provide daily coverage, with four schemes relying on just one solicitor and none at all available in Skegness.
Meanwhile, demand for police station advice continued to grow, with a 15% increase in requests for legal assistance at police stations and over 652,000 instances recorded in 2023–2024 alone, most requiring in-person attendance.
“This growing demand, paired with a shrinking workforce, creates a significant risk that suspects will be unable to access legal support when it is most needed.”
Dr Rockey added: “Duty solicitors form a crucial link between communities and the justice system, yet a stark demographic imbalance persists.
“A generational mismatch risks eroding trust, particularly among younger and more diverse communities, who may feel poorly represented by a workforce that does not reflect their lived experiences.”
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