The introduction at the start of December of new fee scales for expert witnesses to give evidence in family courts will, according to some, have far-reaching implications for the smooth running of the family justice system, not to mention those children whose futures it will be deciding.
The move by the Ministry of Justice will see the hourly rate paid by the Legal Aid Service to social care and medical professionals for giving expert testimony in a care proceedings case fall by 20 per cent across the board.
It is one of a series of changes agreed by the MoJ earlier in the year to reduce the UK's legal aid bill, some of which are already making it harder for expert witness evidence to be introduced in court, according to senior figures in the children's legal system.
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