Finally a Review into Civil Legal Aid ……2024
The Ministry of Justice has announced that a long awaited review into Civil Legal Aid will finally get underway , that is the good news , the bad news is it is not expected to report until the end of 2024 which would mean any new Government post election is likely to be faced with implementing changes .
The review will commission an external economic analysis of the civil legal aid market, to better understand how people facing civil and family legal issues access funding and support.
It will encompass all categories of civil legal aid provision, with in-depth analysis into areas including:
- family
- housing
- mental health
- education
- discrimination
- immigration
It will also consider value for taxpayers’ money for future policy options.
Access further details of the MOJ announcement here : Government review to explore options to improve civil legal aid market - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
This has followed a strong campaign by the Law Society and others .
Across England and Wales, Law Society research shows there are significant advice deserts where people cannot access civil legal aid:
- 52m people (88%) do not have access to a local education provider
- 40m (67%) do not have access to a local community care legal aid provider
- 40% of the population do not have access to a local legal aid provider for housing advice
“Behind each statistic is a child not getting the education they need, a family facing eviction, fighting for welfare benefits to stay afloat in these turbulent times or a person denied a say in how they are cared for.” said Law Society president Lubna Shuja.
We will report further on this as more updates become available . It seems unless there is action now it will do little to address the crisis facing providers now , 2024 will be far too late