Children to lose out due to LASPO
About 13% of all children under 18 who currently receive help with legal costs will lose out under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, according to Ministry of Justice figures released to campaign group JustRights, following a Freedom of Information request. This equates to about 6,000 children.
JustRights points out that this contradicts government assertions that children will be protected from the legal aid cuts. One of 11 amendments passed in the House of Lords before Easter pledged to protect legal aid for children—the amendment has been estimated by the MoJ to potentially cost £5m-£6m. However, the government may try to overturn the amendments when the Bill returns to the Commons.
