October 2008 Ministry of Justice planned savings to the legal services budget
Two articles published in The Times on 15th October.
‘Legal Services ‘cut to the bone’ as crunch hits’ by Frances Gibb, Legal Editor and
‘Jack Straw’s cutback will be mirrored across the rest of government’ by Jill Sherman, Richard Ford and Frances Gibb.
Legal_Services_Cuts_October_2008.doc
October 2008 The long-term future for legal aid: our vision for the future
First speech by Lord Bach, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice since taking up his position as Minister for Legal Aid:
Lord_Bach_10th_October_2008.doc
Lord Bach was speaking at the Legal Aid Practitioners Group Conference on 10th October 2008
September 2008 It’s the System Stupid! Radically Rethinking Advice
AdviceUK’s report ‘It’s the System Stupid! Radically Rethinking Advice’, funded by the Baring Foundation, shows that wasteful public services and legal advice reforms are preventing advisers from meeting the needs of vulnerable people.
The report’s key findings are:
Advice agencies struggle to cope with demand caused by the failings of the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and Housing Benefit Offices, yet win 90% of such cases on procedural grounds.
Advice services are hampered by contractual restrictions. For example, Legal Aid reforms have led advice organisations to restrict the things they could do for clients in order to meet targets. One of the main recommendation from the report is to reconsider top-down initiatives such as Legal Aid reforms and plans for jointly commissioned ‘super-centres’.
The Report of AdviceUK’s RADICAL Advice Project October 2007 - June 2008 is here:
Radically_Rethinking_Advice_09.08_.pdf
September 2008 Discrimination: Its just not fair
A rough guide to your rights published by the Law Centres Federation in September 2008 and funded by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. The guide covers Sex Discrimination, Race Discrimination, Age Discrimination, Disability Discrimination, Sexual Orientation Discrimination, Religion or Belief Discrimination, Transgender Discrimination and Human Rights and the Human Rights Act.
To download a copy, click here: Discrimination_Its_just_not_fair_September_08.pdf
September 2008 Young peoples’ experience of law-related events: The role of Public Legal Education
Young peoples’ experience of law-related events: The role of public legal education by Lisa Wintersteiger
This paper aims to improve understanding of the need for and value of public legal education amongst young people. Evidence of young people’s lack of awareness of legal right’s and processes contrasts with the increased likelihood of experiencing a wide range of law-related events for which they often do not get help.
Young_Peoples_Experience_and_PLE.pdf
September 2008 ‘Marketisation of the Vulnerable’
‘Marketisation of the Vulnerable’ is to be raised at Labour Party Conference in September 2008
‘Changes in legal aid services, which help people keep ‘a roof over their head’, tackle unemployment and advise on crippling debts are to be raised at the Labour Party conference, by Unite. Unite, the country’s largest trade union, believes that legal assistance is being reduced, as a result of the introduction of fixed fees per case, for groups such as:
- those with literacy difficulties,
- mental health problems,
- disabilities,
- asylum seekers and refugees’
Copy of Press Release: Labour_Party_Conference_08_Legal_Aid.doc
Amendment: Labour_Party_amendment.pdf
Unite Paper July 2008: Unite_on_LSC_funding_July_08_.pdf
September 2008 Inside Housing ‘Law Centres battle for life’
An article about Law Centres by Beena Nadeem was published on 5th September in Inside Housing. It reported that Law Centres providing specialist housing advice are being wiped out at an alarming rate.
View a copy of the article here: Inside_Housing_05.09_.08_.doc
September 2008 LCF Networking
Law Centre’s August/September 2008 Newsletter
August_September_2008.pdf
September 2008 The Socio-Economic Value of Law Centres
The Law Centres Federation commissioned the New Economics Foundation (nef) to assist with the production of a short piece of research examining the socio-economic value of the impacts of the work of Law Centres.
The estimates produced for the socio-economic benefits produced by the case studies reviewed demonstrate the significant socio-economic value that Law Centres provide to the individuals they assist, and other stakeholders affected by the intervention.
• For the individual case study reviewed, the indication was of a socio-economic cost benefit ratio in excess of 15.
• The public legal education programme produced estimated ratios of around 25.
The first draft of the report was completed in August 2008. The final report will be posted here as it appears.
The New Economics Foundation has published a guide to measuring value, ‘Measuring Value: A guide to Social Return on Investment (SROI). The 2nd edition was published in 2008 and can be found here: Measuring_Value_Guide_to_Social_Return_on_Investment_08.pdf
August 2008 Investigation and understanding unmet legal need in Magistrates’ and County Courts
Research carried out by Young Legal Aid Lawyers in 2008 and published in August. YLAL
YLAL_Court_Users_Survey_August_08.pdf
The survey found that almost two-thirds of respondents were unrepresented. Unmet legal need in civil cases was especially high, with only 10 per cent of respondents represented. The survey revealed that a large number of court users were not even sure whether they were eligible for legal aid or where they could get it.
An article on the research “YLAL surveys unmet legal need at court” was published in Legal Action Group Bulletin in August 2008.
LAG_YLAL_Court_Users_Survey_08.08_.pdf
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