What advice legal aid funds

The Bill proposes cutting legal aid funding for advice on debt, employment, housing, family, immigration, welfare benefits and some other areas.

Justice for All is concerned cutting these areas of advice will damage access to justice.

Debt advice

Legal aid will only fund debt advice when a person’s home is at ‘immediate risk’.

Debt advisers know that early advice is cheaper and more effective. This proposal would mean people cannot get help until they are at crisis point.

Employment law advice

All legal aid funding will be cut, except in cases of discrimination.

Employers can pay for lawyers to represent them at employment tribunals but ex-employees would have no free legal advice or representation – leaving them at an unfair disadvantage.

Family law advice

Legal aid will only fund advice on family problems in cases of domestic violence. In all other cases, legal aid will not fund advice on issues like divorce, contact with children, adoption or family maintenance.

The Government proposes families settle their problems through mediation instead, but there no plans to guarantee access to mediation. Mediation is not suitable in all cases, where families cannot agree a compromise.

If one side of a dispute could afford a lawyer, this proposal would leave the other one at an unfair disadvantage.

Housing law advice

Legal aid will only fund advice on homelessness or serious disrepair threatening health.

Advice on all other housing issues will no longer be funded through legal aid, including issues like protection for tenants against harassment by their landlord.

Immigration law advice

Legal aid will only fund cases where someone is detained or fleeing torture, persecution or otherwise seeking asylum. Advice on issues such as extending visas or applying for British citizenships will no longer be funded through legal aid.

This proposal could split up families, who need to change their immigration status to stay together. As the system is so complicated, it is very difficult to do this without advice.

Welfare benefits advice

All legal aid funding will be cut, including issues like appealing decisions for sickness benefits.

Welfare benefits are complicated, and the people who need them are often very vulnerable, making it harder for them to understand or represent themselves at appeals.

Other advice

Many other specific issues will no longer be funded through legal aid. This includes advice and representation at many types of tribunal against companies or government agencies.

In these cases, companies and government agencies can pay for lawyers, but individuals struggling to get fair treatment could be on their own – sometimes facing large legal teams.