Page 89 - When Things Go Wrong

non-means tested legal aid for inquests where the state has
representation. 247

The Working Party considers this response to be wholly inadequate.

5.22 Government expresses no willingness to cap the number of advocates
representing State bodies, claiming “it must be right that, for example, police
or prison officers have representation at inquests where there is the potential
for their job to be at risk”. 248 It is not clear how this precautionary approach
chimes with the view of the process as “inquisitorial”. It also suggested that
“public bodies are very much aware of the cost of instructing lawyers and
consider sharing legal resource where possible, keeping the number of lawyers
to a minimum”. 249 This claim is not borne out by the sums spent. Last year,
responses to Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by organisations
including INQUEST gave a sense of partial Government spend on inquest
representation: 250

Mental Health: Responses from 26 [of 53] trusts revealed that £4,026,787.45
was spent on legal representation. In the same year the Legal Aid Agency paid
a total of £117,968 towards fees for legal representation at inquests for families
following the death of a relative in contact with mental health services.

Policing: Just over £41,000 (£41,265) was granted by the Legal Aid Agency
towards legal fees for families’ representation for those who had died in police
custody. 32 of 44 police forces responded, revealing that their legal bills came
to £409,744.81.

247 Ministry of Justice (2019), supra note 217, paras 129-30.
248 Ibid, para 185.
249 Ibid.
250 See INQUEST, ‘New figures reveal “shocking” funding injustice faced by bereaved families at
inquests’, 1 October 2019. In respect of the data, the article notes that private providers are not included,
and multiple agencies or individual members of staff/police are often separately represented at inquests.
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