Post by jman on Aug 4, 2011 12:56:36 GMT 1
Article from the Law Society Gazette on the disastrous Big Society consequences for Law Centres if the legal aid cuts come in.
"One in three law centres set to shut downThursday 04 August 2011 by Jonathan Rayner and Catherine Baksi
At least a third of law centres will close if government plans to cut legal aid funding go ahead this autumn, solicitors have predicted.
The warning came after the UK’s largest not-for-profit social welfare law firm, Law for All, went into administration, weeks after the Immigration Advisory Service also collapsed.
Julie Bishop, director of the Law Centres Federation, said 18 of the 56 law centres nationwide were particularly susceptible to closure, because legal aid accounts for more than 60% of their revenue. Legal aid rates will be cut by 10% across the board this October.
Her concerns were echoed by Bob Nightingale, chief executive of the London Legal Support Trust, who added that ‘many more’ than a third were likely to cease trading.
He said: ‘The die was cast when the Legal Services Commission stopped paying legal aid up front, but transferred the cashflow burden from government to provider by paying in arrears. Law centres have no cash reserves for downsizing. The 10% cut will see many off, with many more to follow as the other cuts begin to bite.’
Bishop said the Ministry of Justice’s removal of welfare advice and most debt, employment and housing advice from the scope of legal aid will slash the number of clients receiving help from law centres each year from 120,000, to just 40,000.
‘Where will those unrepresented 80,000 go? Their problems will get worse, which will cost the government more,’ she added.
Paula Twigg, advice services director at the Mary Ward Legal Centre in London, said her centre would ‘probably have to close down’.
She said: ‘At least half our clients want help with benefits, yet that work is going out of scope.’
Anne McNicholas, supervising solicitor at Paddington Law Centre, said it was facing a £45,000 cut in its local authority funding on top of legal aid cuts. She said it was not clear how the centre could survive............."
Rest at link below
www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-aid-cuts-039to-force-law-firms-close039
"One in three law centres set to shut downThursday 04 August 2011 by Jonathan Rayner and Catherine Baksi
At least a third of law centres will close if government plans to cut legal aid funding go ahead this autumn, solicitors have predicted.
The warning came after the UK’s largest not-for-profit social welfare law firm, Law for All, went into administration, weeks after the Immigration Advisory Service also collapsed.
Julie Bishop, director of the Law Centres Federation, said 18 of the 56 law centres nationwide were particularly susceptible to closure, because legal aid accounts for more than 60% of their revenue. Legal aid rates will be cut by 10% across the board this October.
Her concerns were echoed by Bob Nightingale, chief executive of the London Legal Support Trust, who added that ‘many more’ than a third were likely to cease trading.
He said: ‘The die was cast when the Legal Services Commission stopped paying legal aid up front, but transferred the cashflow burden from government to provider by paying in arrears. Law centres have no cash reserves for downsizing. The 10% cut will see many off, with many more to follow as the other cuts begin to bite.’
Bishop said the Ministry of Justice’s removal of welfare advice and most debt, employment and housing advice from the scope of legal aid will slash the number of clients receiving help from law centres each year from 120,000, to just 40,000.
‘Where will those unrepresented 80,000 go? Their problems will get worse, which will cost the government more,’ she added.
Paula Twigg, advice services director at the Mary Ward Legal Centre in London, said her centre would ‘probably have to close down’.
She said: ‘At least half our clients want help with benefits, yet that work is going out of scope.’
Anne McNicholas, supervising solicitor at Paddington Law Centre, said it was facing a £45,000 cut in its local authority funding on top of legal aid cuts. She said it was not clear how the centre could survive............."
Rest at link below
www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-aid-cuts-039to-force-law-firms-close039