The loss of legal aid is a major cause for concern, says Jon Robins
Amid the fervent Jackson mania, it can feel as though the impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) on the already beleaguered civil legal aid scheme gets overlooked. It remains poor cousin to the wealthy (relatively speaking) claimant PI lobby or, for that matter, the criminal Bar which has friends in high places and has always proved a powerful advocate in its own cause.
It is worth remembering that if one idea underpins the sprawling LASPO monster it is the political imperative to remove £350m from the £2.2bn legal aid scheme. It does this by axing entire areas of law except where they remain protected by the requirements of the European convention on human rights. So—one more time for those that for those that haven’t been paying attention—LASPO means no more legal aid for pretty much all social welfare law and that means welfare benefits, employment, debt, immigration, plus most housing except where there is homelessness.
Government figures
On the government’s own figures,
