Tales from the frontline - it's still not sorted!

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Back in January of this year, I wrote an article about one of our severely disabled clients called 'Tom'. And you know what? - despite government pressing ahead at relentless speed with its plans to abolish legal aid for people like Tom, his case is still going on!


Here's the front page on the New Statesman cover; I'm the 'legal aid worker'..






Read the next post for the article, which also appeared on the Justice for All website.

[nickd]

“The Legal Aid Worker"

“They say our work could be done by volunteers – but filing cabinets of filing cabinets of complex cases tell me otherwise”

At the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) where I work in South Hams, Devon, we are heavily reliant on legal aid funding. A lot of our work is difficult, complicated and unglamorous. Dealing with people’s problems over entitlement to benefits, or their debts, or – in conjunction with the charity Shelter – specialist housing help.

The Government wants to make immediate savings by cutting all civil legal aid budgets by 10% - and, by 2014/2015, it hopes to save £350 million a year across the country. Our legal aid service costs each person in the three districts we cover just 94p a year, so we think we’re good value for money already. But the coalition says that the work we do isn’t specialist and could be picked up by volunteers. Filing cabinets of very complex cases tell me otherwise.

The cuts mean that we won’t be able to help people like such as Tom in the future. Tom is in his thirties and is severely autistic. His mother came to us after his mobility payment was stopped because he is living in community residential care. We strongly disagreed with the decision: the money helps carers take Tom, who is unable to speak, out in a specially adapted bus. Without it, he is unlikely to see much of the outside world. What would his quality of life be like?

Tom’s case, which began in 2008, has now reached the upper tribunal in London. Despite the length of time and complexity of the case, we at the CAB are paid only a fixed fee of £167 by the state to deal with it. But even that might not be available in the future. The government’s plans will hit people such as Tom and his mother hard. Not only will they have to deal with cuts to benefits, but there will be much less funding to help them if those cuts are unjust.

Nick Dilworth is a legal aid casework supervisor in Devon. To find out more about the Justice for All Campaign, visit: justice- for – all.org.uk”

Link to online article

www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/01/workers-speak-books-fears


In the next post I tell you where we're at with this case.

[nickd]

Has Tom got his mobility allowance restored?






Whilst government reform may move quickly; Tom's case grinds on and remains unresolved


It was Tom's highly articulate mother who approached us for help with his case; it's been going on since 2008 - over 3 years ago.

We prepared his case and won his Disability Living Allowance at the first tier tribunal, there had to be an earlier adjournment because the DWP hadn't prepared the case.

The Tribunal accepted our carefully drafted submission unreservedly, the DWP didn't even attend either the first or second hearing.

Despite the favourable judgment, I told Tom's mother not to raise her hopes and sure enough the DWP subsequently appealed to the upper tribunal.

And that's where Tom's case remains, unheard and gathering dust whilst we await a judgment in another case.

Government reforms want to take the mobility component of his Disability Living Allowance away because they say he is in a state funded hospital or similar institution. We say he isn't; - and so the case goes on. Tom goes without a payment which would help run the cost of his transport and we've yet to get paid for the work on his case from his legal aid funding.

Government can move at great pace to suit it's agenda but not to suit the needs of those it should protect.

They call this justice?