LEGAL AID REFORM AND BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC SOLICITORS

Early day motion 1303, tabled 18 April 2007 by Diane Abbott (Labour). Signed by 32 members.

That this House notes the speech by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Vera Baird QC to the Black Solicitors Network in June 2006; further notes that she told her audience that black and minority ethnic solicitors should regard her as an ally in the fight `to make the legal profession one that represents Britain in the 21st century'; further notes that black and minority ethnic solicitors are more likely to undertake legal aid work than the profession as a whole and that they are more likely to be small firms; further notes that one of the intended consequences of the Government's legal aid reform is to cut the number of small firms and encourage consolidation and that the Black Solicitors Network now estimates that up to two thirds of black and minority ethnic law firms will have to close as a result of the Government's legal aid reforms; believes that such an outcome would be bad for the cause of encouraging black entrepreneurship and for the cause of encouraging diversity in the legal profession and above all bad for clients; and urges the Government to look at this issue as a matter of urgency.

Signatures by party: Labour 21, Liberal Democrat 6, Conservative 2, Independent 1, Plaid Cymru 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.