MPs final debate on legal aid

Though only some small concessions were made, some key debates and votes sent signals to the House of Lords that MPs on both sides of the House have grave concerns about the swingeing cuts to legal aid.

Thanks to over 2500 Justice for All campaigners who called on their MP to defend free legal advice for victims of domestic violence, on social welfare law and to support advice charities facing catastrophic losses in funding. All these issues were addressed in the debate, and two key votes were held.

Legal aid’s protection for victims of domestic violence was extended to cover some immigration cases, as the Minister announced previously.

Though the Minister did not accept concerns that the definition of domestic violence in the Bill is too narrow, he did agree to give the issue ‘serious consideration’. A vote was held on a Labour amendment which would bring the evidence criteria for domestic violence in line with victim’s actual experiences. The vote was lost but has raised the profile of this crucial issue.

• Find out how your MP voted on domestic violence here.

Ten Liberal Democrat MPs rebelled to support continued legal aid funding for complex welfare benefit cases by voting for an amendment from Labour back-bencher Yvonne Fovargue MP on legal aid for people with “complex, interconnected needs”. These were Tom Brake, Mike Crockart, Andrew George, Mike Hancock, Martin Horwood, Simon Hughes, Stephen Lloyd, Greg Mulholland, Ian Swales, and David Ward. Sadly the vote was still lost but this is an important marker of the widespread concern on this issue.

• Find out how your MP voted on social welfare law here.

Kate Green MP (Labour) quizzed the Minister on funding for the not-for-profit advice sector. The Minister confirmed details of the £20m fund for advice charities will be announced ‘shortly’. He also indicated the Cabinet Office will launch a review of advice centres in ‘early November.’ A review will be an excellent opportunity to take our views to the heart of government, and Justice for All co-ordinating actions to feed in to the Government’s review once it begins.

Justice for All sent all MPs a Report Stage briefing on the campaign's key concerns ahead of the debate. Read our briefing below.

jfa_LASPOreportstage_MPbriefing_31.10.11.pdf (Adobe PDF - 155Kb)