Following the accession of Andy Burnham to Labour leader, the Law Society of England and Wales has called on the new prime minister to work with the legal sector to support growth across the country.
Law Society president Mark Evans said Burnham should recognise the role of solicitors outside of London and empower communities by removing “regulatory barriers that hold back innovation and regional development”.
The government must invest in the skills needed to build legal careers and enable the responsible adoption of AI to drive growth, he added.
The new government has a “golden opportunity” to rebuild public confidence in the courts system, Evans said, calling on the government to “improve investment in legal aid to tackle record court backlogs and ensure people can access timely justice”.
He added: “Early legal advice and a properly funded justice system will help to lower court backlogs and ensure cases can be resolved efficiently.”
Following the Justice Committee report published last week, the Law Society said it wants to see investment in legal aid, with the implementation of the agreed uplift in the means test a “vital next step” as part of efforts to meet manifesto commitments to halve violence against women and girls.
The Burnham government should also focus on improving public bodies’ initial decisions to show “true commitment to our communities and ensures everyone can access justice”, Evans said, instead of restricting rights to appeal.
In a message circulated in the wake of his appointment, Burnham said that “people and places in every nation and region of our country have been overlooked by Westminster”.
He added: “Our generation of politicians – myself included – have failed to challenge a political culture and an economic model that simply doesn’t work for most people.
“So this is the moment we build something different. A new kind of politics, more focused on problem-solving than point-scoring. A rewired Britain that takes power away from Westminster and Whitehall, and puts it back in the hands of the people who know how to use it best.”
