Cut legal aid & increase Employment Tribunal cases

[jman]

Series of articles on the fact that cutting legal aid for employment is likely to increase the number of claims as people start cases without advice on their merits. Here's the first from Citizen's Advice

"Legal aid cuts will mean more employment tribunals, Citizens Advice warns
15 November 2011

Abolishing legal aid for employment advice will have the perverse effect of increasing the number of cases that end up at an employment tribunal, national charity Citizens Advice warned today.

Far from achieving the government’s objective of saving money and resolving disputes at an early stage, it predicts that the move will have the opposite effect. It is urging the government to rethink planned legal aid cuts or else find another way to fund the employment-related information, advice and assistance of the kind currently provided by Citizens Advice Bureaux and others to both workers and employers.

In its response to the government’s consultation on promoting economic growth through a strong and efficient labour market*, Citizens Advice welcomes the government’s commitment to enforce fundamental employment protection against employers who try to gain an unfair advantage by exploiting staff.

But it says this pledge is meaningless unless people continue to have access to the specialist legal advice that plays a key role in resolving disputes and potential disputes at an early stage, thereby averting thousands of employment tribunal claims.

Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy said:

“We strongly back the government’s commitment to ensure that rogue employers determined to operate outside the law are not allowed to unfairly undercut business rivals by exploiting their workers. We agree absolutely that the most vulnerable workers – those most likely to be exploited by unscrupulous bosses – must be effectively protected.

“But abolishing legal aid for employment cases is no way to achieve these very laudable aims. If the legal aid cuts go ahead, Citizens Advice Bureaux will no longer be able to offer the specialist legal advice and casework that helps resolve more than 3,000 employment problems every year, most involving vulnerable workers in low paid, low skilled work, who have nowhere else to turn for help.

“The government still has time to rethink these plans and prevent legal aid cuts undermining its efforts to promote growth through a strong and efficient labour market, and to create a level playing field that is fair to workers and decent employers alike.”

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/press_office-newpage

[jman]

Huffington Post has article on same point and suggest No 10 may need to get MOJ in to sort things out

"Why Cutting Legal Aid Could Lead to More Employment Tribunals
Posted: 14/11/11 23:00 GMT

There is a small dining room inside Number 10 which frustrated political advisers have used for years to solve some of their most intractable difficulties.

It's not so much to look at: there's a slightly rickety oval table and about 10 chairs - but what it lacks in gold, polish and pillars, it makes up in its almost magical influence on warring officials from departments across Whitehall.

The time-honoured technique - passed on by from one generation of Downing Street inhabitants to the next - is to invite in officials who seem hell bent on disagreement, or implementing policies that almost exactly cancel each other out, serving them a rather nice cup of Earl Grey in rather nice china, and then asking them for a quick reminder of what the problem seems to be.

I don't know whether it's the history or simply the difference a good biscuit makes, but without fail, conciliatory and constructive conversations seem to flow.

It's now time to invite over officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), responsible for legal aid and tribunals.

Those in BIS want to cut the cost of the employment tribunal system, by reducing the number of employment tribunal claims. So they're planning to introduce application and hearing fees, and increase the qualification period for legal protection against unfair dismissal from 12 months to two years.

Their counterparts down the road in the (swankier) Ministry of Justice building want to cut the legal aid budget. This is an unenviable job: there are no easy wins and lots of organisations are bitterly opposed to most of the cuts. But their proposal is to get rid of almost all legal aid for employment advice, along with other social welfare law advice. So far, so logical.

The fly in the ointment here is that cutting legal aid-funded employment advice will almost certainly increase the number of employment tribunal claims.

Specialist employment advice often leads to a resolution of the 'problem' by other means, such as negotiation with the client's employer (or former employer). These settlements, outside the formal legal system, stand a better chance of keeping the employment relationship intact. And that's good for everyone involved, including George Osborne.

In many other cases, the adviser concludes that the employer's actions were indeed unlawful, but that a long and no doubt stressful tribunal claim stands no realistic prospect of success - perhaps due to lack of evidence, or the inadequacy of relevant law - so is best avoided.

With the loss of their legal aid-funded employment specialists, the great majority of Citizens Advice Bureaux will no longer have the expertise and capacity to conduct such negotiation with employers, and to sift out misguided or evidentially weak claims...................."

Rest at link below :


www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mike-dixon/cutting-legal-aid-leads-to-employment-tribunals_b_1093324.html