Is it the end of the road for Legal Aid?

Article date: 05.08.11

* Legal Aid was introduced into England and Wales in 1949. It provides legal assistance to those in receipt of benefits or low incomes that would not otherwise be able to afford privately funded legal advice. At present, Legal Aid has a budget of over £2 billion per year.

The Government proposes to severely reduce the scope of Legal Aid. It is estimated that they plan to save £350 million pounds per year from the Legal Aid budget. Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, introduced the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, setting out the Government’s proposals, before the House of Commons on 21 June 2011.

Should the Government proposals be adopted it is estimated that publicly funded cases will be reduced by 600,000 per year. It is therefore likely that the Courts will be faced with many more litigants in person which, in turn, will lead to undue pressure and delay being placed upon the Court system. Stephen Cobb QC, chairman of the Family Law Bar Association, has said that "the threats posed by the Government's proposals are real and potentially brutal."

The implementation of the Government’s proposals would lead to the following areas of publicly funded family law work being cut all together:

  • Divorce/Dissolution of Civil Partnerships
  • Children Act Applications (e.g. Residence, Contact, Parental Responsibility etc)
  • Financial matters
  • Cohabitee disputes

The Government has confirmed that where there are disputes involving domestic violence or children with special educational needs public funding would still be made available.

There have been a number of campaigns lobbying MP’s and the Government to prevent these proposals from being introduced. The Justice Bill Committee have already heard oral evidence and submissions from charities, groups and organisations. The committee will be hearing evidence until 13 October 2011. People are also lobbying their own MP’s in protest of the bill.

Our dedicated family team currently provide help and advice on all aspects of family law matters. Should you require any assistance in relation to a family problem please do not hesitate to contact Aldridge Brownlee LLP. We currently can provide both private and publicly funded assistance, but as referred to above, this could well change.

* This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.