System failure

AREAS of the British state sometimes show an extraordinary capacity to shoot themselves in the foot. The end result, as in the case of legal aid overpayments, is a vast sum of public money wasted. This is bad enough at the best of times but, when the country has endured the worst financial crisis since the war, it is lamentable and infuriating.

The 76.5m wrongly handed out by the Legal Services Commission last year is only part of a flawed and expensive system. People accused of crimes should always have the right to call on legal experts but too often the accused are allowed to drag out proceedings with little fear of financial sanction.

The courts do not have enough power to punish those who exploit the system of legal funding, whether they are repeat offenders, wealthy criminals or the minority of unscrupulous solicitors who overclaim for the cost of their work.

The trebling of overpayments is yet another example of executive-level failure in the public sector and it needs to be tackled urgently. Ken Clarke, the Justice Secretary and a former Chancellor and barrister, will know that voters won't put up with endemic waste when they are also on the receiving end of swingeing cuts. It is his job to ensure the LSC is fit for purpose and to make every penny count.