South West London Law Centres - Legal Aid reforms forces closure

Changes to the way that Legal Aid is funded is having a devastating impact on the viability of Law Centres, Citizens Advice Bureaux and other independent advice agencies. These organisations operate in the charity and voluntary sector provide representation for vulnerable people. They are a small but dedicated band of professionals and volunteers who challenge the State on behalf of the vulnerable, using the law to hold the powerful to account and to protect people’s rights from abuse. They work long hours, for little or no financial reward. They work for you. And they are being destroyed before our eyes.

Michael Ashe, CEO of South West London Law Centres said:

‘The work we do is not glamorous, but it is vital. There are desperate people queuing outside our doors for hours each night in the depths of winter to see volunteer advisers because their low-wage jobs mean they are not eligible for Legal Aid. We cannot even invite them to wait inside out of the cold because we cannot afford proper premises and we cannot afford to pay a receptionist. We stay at work in the evenings and come in at weekends because we cannot balance the books any other way, and because there is always another vulnerable person denied their rights who we cannot let down. Like doctors, nurses and teachers, we just want to be allowed to do our job, and do it well’.

Further Information

Michael Ashe, Chief Executive, South West London Law Centres: 020 8772 7051 or

South_West_London_Law_Centres_Press_Release_260208.doc

Published: Tue 26 Feb, 2008

In the News and Press section

Notes

1. South West London Law Centres is a charity and company limited by guarantee. We have an independent trustee board drawn from the local community in the six boroughs in which we work – Wandsworth, Merton, Kingston, Richmond, Croydon and Sutton. For further information see: http://www.swllc.org.uk/SWLLC07.pdf

Example Case study

Ms B is 17. She fled from her father’s domestic violence with her mother and sister. When they came to us they were sleeping in a car. We contacted the local authority, which agreed to house Ms B’s mother and sister, but not her. Given her situation we had no choice but to issue emergency proceedings to enforce Ms B’s rights. The local authority agreed to house her. We went on to help Ms B with her benefit entitlements so she no longer had to rely on charity from her friends.

This is a typical case: the law is clear in this area, Ms B was a vulnerable minor, yet until we issued a legal challenge the local authority was under no pressure to meet its duties to her.