‘The Law Centres Network has threatened to seek judicial review of the government’s decision to award the contract for operating a discrimination helpline to security contractor G4S.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 6th September 2016
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Any person thinking about taking their case to court should be able to see a lawyer without cost at least once, according to an opinion poll conducted as part of work on the public perception of justice.’
Legal Futures, 24th November 2015
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Qualified solicitors and barristers made up more than three-quarters of a surge in volunteer lawyers last year, according to pro bono charity LawWorks’ latest annual report.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 11th November 2015
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Almost all of the 200 “fit for work“ test appeals undertaken by a student volunteer project have been won, providing more evidence of the unreliability of the government’s controversial work capability assessment (WCA).’
Full story
The Guardian, 2nd September 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘More than a third of advice agencies that have so far implemented charging for legal services appear to have done so sustainably, a survey of post-LASPO innovations has found.’
Legal Futures, 3rd February 2015
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘2015 looks set to be a critical year for the pro bono movement and its uneasy relationship with legal aid. The well-worn pro bono mantra – that pro bono is “an adjunct to and not a replacement for legal aid” – has been challenged in recent years. The Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO 2012) effectively scrapped public funding for much of social welfare law advice in April 2013 and the legal profession is finally beginning to rethink the formula. Legal aid lawyers are rightly sceptical about ministers trying to co-opt pro bono – but LASPO 2012 is a game-changer.’
The Future of Law, 7th January 2015
Source: http://blogs.lexisnexis.co.uk
‘Legal help for thousands of families facing eviction from their home is being slashed by the Government despite soaring numbers of repossessions, an investigation for The Independent has found.’
The Independent, 26th November 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The cuts in legal aid for professional advice wrought by Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) may be seen to have increased the opportunities – and workload – for volunteers and charities. Indeed, there are reports that the government intends to fill the gap regarding divorce by setting up law centres run by students. However, the cuts, often portrayed as affecting “fat cat” lawyers, can harm charitable and volunteer services as can be seen through the example of Citizens Advice Bureaux up and down the country.’
Halsbury’s Law Exhchange, 15th July 2014
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“Charitable sector faces dilemma of how to continue helping vulnerable people as funding for many cases dries up.”
The Guardian, 18th September 2013
Source: www.guardian.com
“Significant changes to civil legal aid in England and Wales came into effect on 1 April 2013, as part of a plan to reform the system and save £350m a year.”
BBC News, 18th June 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Last week’s London Legal Walk, coming weeks after swingeing legal aid cuts were introduced, could be read as a show of strength by the whole legal community. Some 7,500 lawyers and staff from firms, legal departments and chambers of all sizes walked to raise funds to support local advice agencies. At the time of writing, an impressive £575,000 was raised. But that in no way comes near the amount taken out of scope by ministers.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 27th May 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“In the early 1970s I was practising in a solicitors’ firm in Gray’s Inn but I was also a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Camden. Interest was growing in the development of law centres. I had myself been one of the members of the Society of Labour Lawyers who had written a Fabian pamphlet – ‘Justice for All’ in 1968. It argued for a national network of such centres, one of which, in Notting Hill, had already been established with charitable funds. Another was proposed in Paddington with local authority support.”
The Guardian, 15th April 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“As legal aid declines, there are a number of different ways lawyers can help to fill the gap.”
The Lawyer, 8th April 2013
Source: www.thelawyer.com
“Extensive cuts to civil legal aid that come into force this week will result in vulnerable people struggling to find help as ‘advice deserts’ open up in parts of the country, a survey warns.”
The Guardian, 1st April 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“It is well-accepted that clinical projects are an excellent forum for helping law students learn practical skills and formulate real-world solutions to legal problems rather than merely an abstract determination of liability. In the 1970s and 1980s, London South Bank University (LSBU) was at the forefront of clinic but upon the massification of higher education we lost our clinical projects because they were not financially sustainable. Revitalised by the employability agenda, clinic has returned to LSBU as an innovative South London drop-in service where students give face-to face legal advice in an open-door clinic.”
LegalVoice, 7th March 2013
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
“The Ministry of Justice is not that interested in research-based policy at the moment, writes Roger Smith. Better in the current environment to stick to prejudice; the elevation of austerity as the sole goal; and stagger through to tomorrow. Hence, no one, least of all Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling, is interested in what anyone has actually ever found out about telephone legal advice hotlines. We are two months away from LASPO Day when face to face advice begins to disappear from the High Street, at least for poor people, just as surely as Woolies and Comet. There is no time left for reflection, let alone reconsideration.”
LegalVoice, 31st January 2013
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
“Removing funding for a service that helps litigants in person on the day wide-ranging legal aid cuts take effect will create ‘absolute disarray’ in the courts, a former head of the family division has warned.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 30th January 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“Not-for-profit groups should be allowed to charge for provision of legal services, the Legal Services Board has said.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 6th December 2012
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“Desperation among local authority housing departments is running so high that homeless families are regularly told they can be given accommodation only if their children go into care, writes Elizabeth Davidson. This shocking response on the part of the authorities is clearly a fob-off given that this would not only breach their legal duties but would cost their social services departments a lot of money.”
LegalVoice, 13th November 2012
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
“The Legal Services Board (LSB) has today published its response to its consultation about the regulation of immigration advice and services.”
Legal Services Board, 31st July 2012
Source: www.legalservicesboard.org.uk
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