Post by jman on Dec 6, 2011 17:34:14 GMT 1
Nottingham Law Centre challenge their local MP Ken Clarke to do a day's work in legal aid at the law centre
You get a distinct feeling that the justice minister won't be taking them up on their offer. That's it Ken wave the idea goodbye; - you've got more important things to be getting on with.
"Ken Clarke challenged to spend a day at legal aid centre
Saturday, December 03, 2011 Nottingham Post
RUSHCLIFFE MP Ken Clarke has been challenged to spend the day with legal aid lawyers in Nottingham so he can see what they "really do".
Staff at Nottingham Law Centre in Hyson Green are "outraged" by comments made by Mr Clarke which they claim imply they are more concerned about money than clients.
.They have also asked him to donate the difference between his salary and that of a legal aid lawyer to children's charity When You Wish Upon a Star.
The centre relies on legal aid funding to provide advice and support on debt, employment, housing and welfare benefits.
But the Government plans to slice £350 million from the annual national budget, which the centre claims would leave about 3,000 people in Nottingham without support.
In an interview with the International Bar Association, Mr Clarke said: "What we have marching towards us is an army of lawyers advancing behind a line of women and children saying, of course, they're not concerned about the income of the profession, they're only concern is these vulnerable clients who would be adversely affected if they're not paid at the rate they currently are."
Law Centre manager Cheryl Weston said this implies they are only concerned about pay, not the welfare of clients.
"We are outraged by Mr Clarke's remarks" she said.
"How can a career politician accuse us of being disingenuous when every day we are working with people in crisis to pick up the pieces of their lives when no one else has been there for them?
"The average salary of a Law Centre lawyer is less than £30,000. People work in Law Centres out of commitment to their communities, not to feather their own nests."
She described his remarks as insulting and said: "We have written to Mr Clarke inviting him to spend a day in the Law Centre to find out what Law Centre lawyers really do – then perhaps he will also understand the impact of his cuts on all the clients we serve.
"We'd also like him to donate the difference between his salary and a Law Centre lawyer's pay for the day to local children's charity When You Wish Upon a Star."................................."
Whilst pressing ahead with his legal aid reforms, Ken Clarke and his junior secretary have continually relegated the work of social welfare legal aid workers. Despite Clarke being continually reminded of the increasingly complex nature of the work and the need for specialists to sort out the huge array of problems a law centre and CAB's deal with under legal aid funding, Clarke doesn't show any interest in rolling up his sleeves and helping them out at Nottingham.
One would have thought he would jump at the chance to show everyone how the work was so 'general' it doesn't require specialist funding. Or could it be that Clarke knows he'd be out of his depth?
Rest at link below
www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Ken-Clarke-challenged-spend-day-legal-aid-centre/story-14029486-detail/story.html