Post by nickd on Feb 4, 2011 21:32:14 GMT 1
Liberal Democrats on Bristol City Council have challenged their own Coalition Government’s cuts in the legal aid budget for civil actions.
The ruling group has tabled a motion to full council condemning plans to slash support in Bristol alone by nearly £540,000.
Barbara Janke
Council leader Barbara Janke has written to Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, saying: “This money currently funds advice provided by charities working in important areas such as debt, housing, employment, education, welfare benefits and immigration.
“We believe the cut will leave thousands of vulnerable households and people on low incomes without access to legal advice to deal with life-changing problems.
“The civil legal aid budget has, as you know, remained static for five years and the proportion of people who qualify has already been cut from 52% in the late 1990s to below 30%.
“Along with Britain’s other major cities, Bristol has borne the brunt of the Coalition’s general cut in financial support for local government. We understand that the last Labour government’s profligacy shoulders much of the blame for these spending reductions.
“But the Lib Dem administration at Bristol City Council also feels very strongly that everyone should have the right to take civil action irrespective of their private means.
“We understand there are no alternative funding streams for this kind of advice work and, therefore, strongly urge you to restore this vital budget.”
The motion to council urges members and local MPs to contact the Ministry of Justice to voice their concerns. Since its introduction in 1949, legal aid has sought to provide access to justice for those of limited means. Costing £536m in 1982, the budget has spiralled to over £2bn today. In a Commons debate on Wednesday, MPs heard how the government sought to remove £350m of funding from family and other civil law by 2014. This is a reduction of more than a third and will affect an estimated half a million cases. The expectation is that people should now represent themselves, or seek alternative routes for resolving disputes outside the court service.
The plans to cut legal aid handouts for civil cases would hit the “poorest the hardest”, MPs were told, while many disputes would develop into far greater problems.
Last month, Katie Pratt, deputy chief executive of Taunton-based Equality South West (ESW), told Bristol24-7: “If these proposals are implemented, only the very poorest of the poor will be able to obtain civil legal aid. Hundreds of thousands of people will be unable to get the help they need at a time of crisis, when they are least able to defend themselves.
“But even for the very few who do qualify, legal aid will no longer be available for a wide range of disputes, including housing, divorce, school exclusion appeals, welfare benefits, employment, non violent domestic disputes, clinical negligence and debt advice.”
Consultation on the reforms ends on February 14.
Council's are already hard pressed with all they have to pay out, yet they still try to do what they can to provide those in their community with decent public services, including funding the voluntary sector for vital advice services wherever possible.
The localism bill is being promoted to give local authorities more choice over how they spend their money. But with restrictions on raising Council Tax, local authorities have their hand tied behind their backs as they too are faced with drastic cuts which have been set by central government. Council's face anger from those in their locality because people will see these cuts as their fault - truth is the cause is lack of central funding.
www.bristol247.com/2011/02/04/bristol-lib-dems-attack-plans-to-slash-legal-aid-budget/
The ruling group has tabled a motion to full council condemning plans to slash support in Bristol alone by nearly £540,000.
Barbara Janke
Council leader Barbara Janke has written to Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, saying: “This money currently funds advice provided by charities working in important areas such as debt, housing, employment, education, welfare benefits and immigration.
“We believe the cut will leave thousands of vulnerable households and people on low incomes without access to legal advice to deal with life-changing problems.
“The civil legal aid budget has, as you know, remained static for five years and the proportion of people who qualify has already been cut from 52% in the late 1990s to below 30%.
“Along with Britain’s other major cities, Bristol has borne the brunt of the Coalition’s general cut in financial support for local government. We understand that the last Labour government’s profligacy shoulders much of the blame for these spending reductions.
“But the Lib Dem administration at Bristol City Council also feels very strongly that everyone should have the right to take civil action irrespective of their private means.
“We understand there are no alternative funding streams for this kind of advice work and, therefore, strongly urge you to restore this vital budget.”
The motion to council urges members and local MPs to contact the Ministry of Justice to voice their concerns. Since its introduction in 1949, legal aid has sought to provide access to justice for those of limited means. Costing £536m in 1982, the budget has spiralled to over £2bn today. In a Commons debate on Wednesday, MPs heard how the government sought to remove £350m of funding from family and other civil law by 2014. This is a reduction of more than a third and will affect an estimated half a million cases. The expectation is that people should now represent themselves, or seek alternative routes for resolving disputes outside the court service.
The plans to cut legal aid handouts for civil cases would hit the “poorest the hardest”, MPs were told, while many disputes would develop into far greater problems.
Last month, Katie Pratt, deputy chief executive of Taunton-based Equality South West (ESW), told Bristol24-7: “If these proposals are implemented, only the very poorest of the poor will be able to obtain civil legal aid. Hundreds of thousands of people will be unable to get the help they need at a time of crisis, when they are least able to defend themselves.
“But even for the very few who do qualify, legal aid will no longer be available for a wide range of disputes, including housing, divorce, school exclusion appeals, welfare benefits, employment, non violent domestic disputes, clinical negligence and debt advice.”
Consultation on the reforms ends on February 14.
Council's are already hard pressed with all they have to pay out, yet they still try to do what they can to provide those in their community with decent public services, including funding the voluntary sector for vital advice services wherever possible.
The localism bill is being promoted to give local authorities more choice over how they spend their money. But with restrictions on raising Council Tax, local authorities have their hand tied behind their backs as they too are faced with drastic cuts which have been set by central government. Council's face anger from those in their locality because people will see these cuts as their fault - truth is the cause is lack of central funding.
www.bristol247.com/2011/02/04/bristol-lib-dems-attack-plans-to-slash-legal-aid-budget/