Legal aid cuts 'could hit 650,000 vulnerable people'

21 June 2011

An estimated 650,000 people could be denied legal aid and advice to help them with housing, employment and immigration problems under the proposals in the Justice Bill announced today (Tuesday, 21 June).

Unite, the largest union in the country with members in advice centres across the UK, said that the plans unveiled by Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke represented 'the raw cruelty and cynicism' underpinning the coalition's claims that 'we are all in this together'.

Unite national officer for the not for profit sector, Sally Kosky said: 'We estimate that 650,000 of the poorest people in the country will be very hard hit by the swingeing cutbacks to the legal aid and advice budget of about £350 million a year – we call on the government to urgently rethink its proposals.'

'The damage caused by this bill will be compounded by the economic hardship generated by the government's misguided financial policies.'

'Charities will lose up to 75 per cent of all legal aid funding. The closing down of advice centres will further accelerate. Yet the savings to the Justice Ministry budget will be miniscule - legal aid costs just 0.3 per cent of GDP.'

'Since November, ministers have systematically ignored 5,000 responses to their consultation on cutting legal aid's scope and availability – over 90 per cent of which were united in condemning them for denying access to those seeking help and representation on debt, education, employment, immigration, housing, social welfare and family cases.'

'Because of the current austerity measures which will cause joblessness, repossession of homes and relationship breakdowns, everyone has an interest in a strong legal advice system. It could, unfortunately, be any of us that suddenly find ourselves in a moment of need. They are taking with one hand and using the other to silence the voices of the disenfranchised, the weak and the desperate.'

Unite has argued that the government's £81bn worth of cuts, announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review last October, will heighten the need for the very legal services which are now for the axe.

Sally Kosky said: 'For those advice services that somehow manage to survive these brutal cuts, advisors and lawyers will be severely restricted because of cost constraints as to how much support they can offer.'

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