MP committee attacks legal aid plans

A report by MPs has attacked the government’s planned changes to legal aid and warns that the vulnerable will be most affected by the reforms.

The Commons Justice Select Committee said that the plans to reduce the £32.2bn a year legal aid budget by £350m would mean half a million less instances of legal assistance and 45,000 less representations every year. It added that the government had not worked out the full implications that the changes would have on the disabled and black and ethnic minority groups.

The report said: “While it is taking some steps to address those gaps, evidence we have received, and the Government's own thinking, suggest that these people, as well as other vulnerable groups, rely more on legal aid services than do the less vulnerable, and so there is the potential for them to be disproportionately hit by the changes.”

The select committee’s report has been supported by the Citizens Advice Bureau which said the report was evidence that the Ministry of Justice had failed to justify going ahead with massive changes to civil legal aid without having considered all the options for reducing costs and preserving “crucial areas of advice”.

CAB case workers, funded by the legal aid budget, last year dealt with over 40,000 welfare benefit cases, 60,000 debt cases, 9,000 housing claims and 3,000 employment cases. Its chief executive, Gillian Guy said: “We would urge the ministry to undertake further work to scope out legal and procedural reforms which could improve efficiency, reduce costs and save frontline services.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mps-in-warning-over-legal-aid-cuts-2257452.html