It's like putting Homer Simpson in charge of a doughnut factory; Lawyer slams legal aid plan.

Byline: John Ferguson 

A TOP lawyer has blasted proposals to put solicitors in charge of their own legal aid payments as "like putting Homer Simpson in charge of a doughnut factory".

Paul McBride QC spoke out after an influential committee suggested scrapping the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) to save money.

The Law Society of Scotland's access to justice committee want to shut down the SLAB and hand over their role to a new "one-stop shop" body funded and managed by lawyers.

But McBride, a SLAB member, slammed the proposed changes as "preposterous".

He said: "SLAB exist to enable access to justice and to make sure legal aid delivers the maximum value for the taxpayer.

"The board serve a vital role and save the public an enormous amount every year. The idea of putting lawyers in charge of administering money to themselves is preposterous and unworkable. "This is like putting Homer Simpson in charge of a doughnut factory."

The access to justice committee's plan would transfer the responsibility for administering legal aid to a new body created out of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC), who are currently paid for the solicitors they oversee.

Initiative Committee chairman Mike Dailly claimed the changes could save pounds 40million.

Dailly, of Govan Law Centre in Glasgow, said: "We can either sit back and wait for frontline legal services for vulnerable people to be cut or we can seize the initiative.

"We are confident a new one-stop shop that handled all legal complaints and payments could save the taxpayer up to pounds 40million over the next five years."

But the SLAB hit back, saying they save the public "tens of millions" a year by limiting unnecessary and excessive payments to lawyers and cracking down on fraud.

A spokesman said: "It is unlikely the proposals would lead to significant savings and may risk higher costs to the taxpayer."

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