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Post by nickd on Jun 11, 2011 0:11:20 GMT 1
The campaign to preserve adequate funding for essential advice services started in earnest last year, following the Comprehensive Spending Reviews announced last October. Government plans to take away £350 from the legal aid bill and the worst impacted area will be social welfare law advice services. Legal aid has funded funded law centres, solicitors and CAB since 1999 when the Access to Justice Act introduced the Community Legal Service. Government says it's 'not working', we don't agree! We say the Community Legal Service is much needed and has helped thousands of people with legal problems, it's ludicrous that Government wants to take it way. The worst affected areas, as far as we are concerned, will be the following: There will be NO welfare benefit legal aid.
There will be NO employment related legal aid.
There will be DRASTIC reductions in housing advice.
There will be DRASTIC reductions in debt advice.
There will be DRASTIC reductions in family advice.These reforms have been called Ludicrous, Immoral, Illogical, Madness and socially regressive. It's informed bodies who are saying this, it's a misinformed government which is blindly pressing ahead with reforms which will almost eradicate advice services, you can kiss the Community Legal Service goodbye if these dangerous reforms go ahead. There's massive opposition but we need to engage the public more. Please use the campaigning section on Mylegal to update us on.. Stories of how anyone has been helped by legal aid. We've already collected 133 stories, let's add some more... Tells us of your efforts to campaign against these reforms. Let us know about any agencies which are being closed or restricted, we also need to know about any 'alternative' services which government or the private sector is funding to analyze whether they will bridge the gap left by a massive void if legal aid goes. Government is going to announce it's response to 5,000 consultation papers and a massive voice against these reforms, it doesn't show any signs of listening. It's legal aid and sentencing bill is in a mess and there is a risk that further cuts may be proposed. The Minister of Justice has said he will not make any more cuts than already proposed, but would you trust a politician given all they've promised? There's still a long way to go and I suspect it'll be the House of Lords where this comes under more scrutiny, we need to make sure our politicians know what's at stake. If you want to know more about these legal aid reforms download Patrick Torsney's important 'Shush' paper, it's been well used in the campaign and is easy to understand; - it very effectively highlights the true impact. Download here.. downloads.ilegal.org.uk/shush.pdfThis campaign is intensive, there's no let up. We fight it until it's over and we're only content if we win the day. We owe it to the people we help and to the dedicated advisers who are best placed to help the people who need access to proper advice services. Government is putting forward cheaper alternatives like websites and telephone call centres, we say they won't offer what people need.
Please do use some of the campaign resources which we try and make available to you on these sites, there are a number of posters & leaflets which people could put up all over the place, in advice centre waiting rooms, local surgeries, council premises, libraries, other community agencies, with local papers even, or may be do a leaflet drop through letter boxes perhaps.
There is a wealth of evidence which we are trying to build upon, it's all fuel to the fire. We need to stoke up a bit more media interest, the summer recess is perhaps a good time to be doing this as local MP's are more likely to be in their own area.
Do remember though that this campaign is being run on limited resources and is only made possible by dedicated people giving up their free time to work on these sites. We also owe a massive thanks to Patrick for setting up the whole Ilegal/Mylegal network, it's had a massive impact upon a lot of what's evolved in this campaign.
So think about joining in our campaign by following Mylegal. And make sure you're joined up to the Justice for All and Sound Of For Justice campaigns as well.
If anyone wants join the Mylegal team, please let us know.
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Post by nickd on Jun 11, 2011 0:15:26 GMT 1
Here's what Gail Emerson from Citizens Advice and Jane Backhurst from Law Centre Federations have to say about the state of play in this month's Legal Action Group of the their review of the campaign so far:
"Taking Action for Justice"
Building an inclusive national campaignThe JfA campaign has come a long way since a small meeting in September last year: three parliamentary debates; over 100 MPs signing an early day motion; robust support from the Labour shadow ministerial team (see also page 3 of this issue); the Justice Committee’s Access toJustice inquiry; the Cabinet Office’s advice summit; Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Kenneth Clarke receiving over 4,000 Valentine’s e-cards and over 5,000 responses to the Ministry of Justice consultation on legal aid (1,000 of which used JfA templates). This has all given the government serious pause for thought about the proposals to decimate legal aid on civil matters, at a time when all funding for free legal advice is under threat. Three thousand plus organisations and individuals have played a part in making this happen. The founding members of JfA knew that what was needed was an umbrella under which to campaign and a call to action to inspire people across the country to express their passion for access to justice and concern about the devastating effects of a serious demise in access to free legal advice would have on the people who rely on it. Supporters have joined the campaign rom a range of perspectives. These include seeing the legal aid reforms in the context of international human rights and concern over their disproportionate qualities impact, in particular on women and children. This campaign has been remarkable in the breadth and depth of support from across the civil and criminal lgal aid sector and the broader voluntary sector, and in engaging civil society as a whole to fight for the rule of law in the UK. Many view free legal advice as a vital part of the welfare state and know the important role it plays in protecting the most vulnerable. It is a deeply held commitment to ensuring that equality before the law is a reality which has inspired many more to take action. Whatever concern brought people to JfA, the campaign offers a chance to understand all angles of the value of free legal advice. From the high media profile of the Law Society’s ‘Sound Off For Justice’ work (see page 9 of this issue) to a disabled man who called one of the authors to say that he had written to the editor of the South Wales Echo in support of JfA, all campaigners are playing their part in raising awareness of the issues. The campaign has even gone international: one of the campaign members met human rights organisations from across Europe when they gathered in Vienna recently. They were happy to support the campaign while speaking out jointly against the demise of access to justice in the UK. An attack on access to justice in one EU member state is an attack on access to justice in all states. Strength of local campaigns However, the challenge is a big one: government is making savings quickly, and campaigns to preserve services and support are many and varied. The perception of inflated costs and waste in the legal aid system is strong. In addition, there is relatively little awareness of the value of free legal advice among the public and even MPs. We believe that it is backbench MPs who will provide the most influential route to persuading the government that free legal advice must be prioritised. Their support can only be won by raising their awareness of the devastating impact which the proposed legal aid reforms would have on their constituents. This is where the JfA campaign can be strongest, through campaigners in constituencies across England and Wales using their local knowledge and expertise to show MPs this is the wrong cut at the wrong time. JfA’s day of action on 3 June provided an opportunity to co-ordinate this community-based lobbying. The campaign’s steering group called for the day of action, but the passion, creativity and commitment of JfA campaigners made it a success. From Hastings to Liverpool, groups of JfA campaigners took action for justice. Seafront marches, high street petitions, town hall rallies, street advice sessions, drama performances and round table meetings under the Chatham House Rules were just some of the events to which MPs were invited across England and Wales. However, the day of action is not the end of campaigning activity. Keeping up dialogue with MPs at local level remains vital, and JfA members will have a presence at the party conferences in the autumn. The forests found half a million supporters; JfA needs to move wisely, but with active campaigners in all communities we can protect access to justice through free legal advice. What will you do to take action for justice?" www.lag.org.uk/files/93732/FileName/JfAfeatureJun11.pdf Read more: ilegal.org.uk/index.cgi?action=display&board=you&thread=2482&page=2#8959#ixzz1Ouy0BnC6
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Post by nickd on Jun 11, 2011 0:19:20 GMT 1
And here's what Sadiq Khan has to say on the fight for legal aid. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Article in June's edition of Legal Action from Sadiq Khan, the Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice on the legal aid cuts and what Labour would have done. Interesting because it shows how Clarke and Djanogly could have taken a different route instead of specifically deciding to destroy social welfare law "The fight for legal aid June 2011 Sadiq Khan MP, the Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, who will be one of the speakers at LAG’s social welfare law conference ‘'Facing the Future' on 4 July, writes: Legal aid is a central plank of our welfare state and I am proud of Labour’s role in creating the system in this country. Clement Attlee’s radical post-war government grasped that the state would need to contribute financially if a fundamental principle of our legal system – that equality before the law is upheld – is not restricted by an individual’s financial means. But legal aid is under threat. Along with changes to the no-win, no-fee regime, we are seeing a sustained assault on access to justice. And, as a result, Legal Action Group, as part of the Justice for All coalition, the Law Society’s Sound Off For Justice campaign, MPs of all parties and a whole array of other concerned organisations and charities are fighting to protect access to justice. Since the 1940s, the needs of individuals and the legal system have changed enormously, and the taxpayer is under more pressure than ever before. However, one constant is that many still face our legal system without the necessary supporting funds, which acts as a serious barrier to protecting an individual’s rights. This coalition government is cutting £350 million from legal aid. I have gone on record to say that I agree that the government needs to make savings from the £2.1 billion legal aid budget. However, I disagree with the way this government is going about making these cuts, which is leading to some half a million people no longer being eligible for legal aid. Social welfare law will take a particular battering, taking welfare benefit issues, employment law and education law totally out of scope, yet other non-civil areas remain largely untouched. Early intervention in our legal system ultimately saves money for the taxpayer. Research by Citizens Advice has demonstrated the scale of these long-term savings: £1 spent on legal aid on housing issues saves the state £2.34, on debt the saving is £2.98, on benefits the saving is £8.80 and on employment advice the state saves £7.13. The justice minister has dismissed the Citizens Advice figures, yet has singularly failed to offer up any reasons behind his repudiation. Nor has his department offered any alternative analysis of the impact of early intervention. I am shocked that this is the case, particularly as these proposed cuts will affect some of those least able to articulate their concerns. So, government claims of savings as a result of these cuts are both short-sighted and short-termist. It is precisely these kinds of early-intervention legal aid that the cuts will devastate. Over two-thirds of initial help and advice on legal problems – practically all debt advice and a chunk of housing law – is to be cut. Those most in need will be overwhelmed without this crucial early support. Our precious Law Centres® and Citizens Advice Bureaux face calamity with cuts of £50 million from their already stretched budgets. They will also be swamped with additional inquiries from those whom the cuts will take out of eligibility at a time when the economic conditions will result in higher demand for debt and housing advice. It is touch and go whether Law Centres and Citizens Advice Bureaux will maintain their services in the face of these cuts. In government, while capping the overall budget for legal aid, we always strived to protect social welfare because we knew that it disproportionately supports those most in need in society. In fact, our March 2010 proposals – fully implemented – would have led to ten per cent efficiency savings from improving the way legal services are contracted from solicitors. Bizarrely, the coalition government has rejected this option, which would have generated sufficient savings to fund social welfare legal aid, particularly as this could lead to even greater savings than those proposed by the government. We are not alone in our opposition in parliament. The cross-party Justice Select Committee stated its surprise at the government’s lack of analysis on the impact on other public spending from these cuts. The committee also emphasised the widely held view that there would be an increase in litigants in person, running the risk of increased costs to the system. Claims by the government that it is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society were questioned by the committee; the Ministry of Justice’s own impact assessment shows that those with disabilities, and ethnic minorities, would be most hit by the cuts. The legal aid budget must be contained, but this must be married to a focus on providing support in those areas which ensure that the most vulnerable are not excluded from the legal system. We had started making savings, but we disagree fundamentally with the route chosen by this Tory-led government. Decimating social welfare legal advice risks crippling a system that was created to change lives for the better. The government has received around 5,000 consultation responses, and we await its formal response. Recently, we have seen government rethinking policy because of the pressure of public opinion. So, it is important that Legal Action readers, who are at the forefront of this debate, fight to protect social welfare legal aid. www.lag.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=93724Read more: ilegal.org.uk/index.cgi?board=reformnews&action=display&thread=2973#ixzz1OuzG4aRw
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Post by nickd on Jun 12, 2011 15:03:25 GMT 1
And here's Sound Off For Justice's review of the campaign watch-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like J4A, SOFJ have a piece in this month's LAG mag reviewing their progress to date: "Does society value legal aid? As readers will be well aware, the Ministry of Justice is planning to cut the legal aid budget by £350m a year by 2014/15. Unfortunately, estimates suggest that each year, as a result, some 650,000 people in the UK facing real legal issues will be left without access to justice. Over the past 62 years, legal aid has been instrumental in legal challenges against the use of torture, the scope of the DNA database and the clampdown on the right to protest. Furthermore, it was responsible for winning compensation forthe miners in the 1960s–70s, helped the Thalidomide children in the 1970s and,more recently, enabled the Ghurkas to win the right to live in the UK. Now with the government’s proposed cuts taking away key areas from the legal aid budget, including medical negligence, education, and family issues (such as divorce, housing and child contact cases), the most vulnerable in our society will be hit the hardest. By ‘vulnerable’, we mean women who are trying to escape abusive marriages, fathers who want access to their children, children who are the victims of clinical negligence and those who have been unlawfully fired from their jobs. Campaign for access to justice In light of this, the Law Society has launched Sound Off For Justice, a campaign which is galvanising public support to challenge the proposed cuts. As with most things, there is a right way to go about the cuts, and a wrong way. The Law Society has therefore proposed an alternative reforms package which advocates cuts in excess of the government’s proposed £350m to help protect the most vulnerable members of society. As the government reviews the amazing 5,000 plus responses received during the consultation period, we should be asserting that individuals, whatever their financial circumstances, should have the right to challenge the government, the rich and powerful, and big business. Will the government’s proposed cuts make access to justice the preserve of the rich again? Furthermore, given legal aid’s successful history, how will the cuts affect the UK’s civil liberties agenda in the coming years? These are all important questions to ponder, but we at Sound Off For Justice believe that access to justice is a fundamental human right which should be protected. As the unrecognised fourth pillar of the welfare state, we should protect legal aid or risk undermining our democratic system as access to justice becomes a theoretical right beyond the reach of ordinary people. It might come as some surprise to know that just six per cent of lawyers do work which is funded by legal aid. These are individuals who have invested a great deal of time and effort in training to become a lawyer to represent some of the most disenfranchised members of our society. And with an average salary. of £25,000, legal aid lawyers certainly do not live up to the stereotype of ‘fat cat lawyers’. Currently standing at £2.1bn, the annual legal aid budget is undeniably high when compared with that of other Western European nations, but they have very different justice systems. However, when put in the context of our welfare system, the figure is not quite so startling. For instance, the legal aid budget would only be able to keep the NHS running for one week. Get involved Although the legal aid system is in need of reform, it is difficult to put a price on such fundamental human rights as the rights to access justice and to have a fair trial. We at Sound Off For Justice are urging people to visit our website and sign the petition to fight the cuts. We have already reached over 14,000 ‘sound offs’, all of which will be sent to Kenneth Clarke, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. Furthermore, we have launched the first ever voicemail protest where members of the public, solicitors, MPs and organisations set to be affected by the cuts are being encouraged to voice their discontent by leaving a message on Kenneth Clarke’s voicemail, which is voiced by impressionist Alistair McGowan. All messages left will be sent to the caller’s local MP and Kenneth Clarke himself, so that he can hear first-hand the public’s opinion. As a final note, the government should remember that cuts made in haste will likely cost more in the long run. Pushing people towards self-representation will flood the courts, not to mention MPs’ surgeries. The resulting inefficiency and downstream costs would not be helpful for a government looking to cope with a deficit. So, let us not deny people their fundamental right of access to justice and let us create a justice system fit for the 21st century. Please Sound Off For Justice." Read more: ilegal.org.uk/index.cgi?action=display&board=you&thread=2078&page=2#8960#ixzz1P4Pztg4IThanks to Colin and other Ilegal posters for making these ones available by the way.
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