Solicitors’ criticism of advice centre cuts
‘Neediest will suffer’ warning as lawyers issue appeal
Published: 05 August, 2010
by DAN CARRIER
PEOPLE in need of legal help will face a desert devoid of vital advice, senior lawyers have warned after it emerged the Camden Community Law Centre will be hit by swingeing cuts.
The centre, based in Prince of Wales Road, has been told the Legal Services Commission (LSC) – the body who dole out legal aid cash – will not fund cases concerning welfare rights, housing and debt after October.
Staff at the centre say this decision has thrown the future of the highly praised advice centre into doubt.
Fresh changes to how legal aid cash is handed out mean law centres and private firms now have to bid against each other for work. The Camden Law Centre has learned that while they will be able to prove expert help with immigration and asylum cases, they will no longer be able to cover crucial areas of law for the neediest. The centre has now issued an appeal to the LSC over the decision to stop their budget for providing help for debt, housing and welfare rights. Centre staff say income will fall by 25 per cent – and six out of 11 legal advisers will lose their jobs.
Law centre solicitor Sarver Lalljee said: “If it was not the LSC’s intention to decimate the legal aid supplier base, they have still done a good job of it. The Law Centre has been part of the community for over 35 years. It has an excellent record.”
He said that the centre had been inspected by the LSC and passed all their tests, adding that the changes would hit people who could least afford to lose valuable help.
Mr Lalljee said: “Many vulnerable clients who are homeless or are in danger of losing their homes, or those who have problems in claiming welfare benefits, will find it impossible to access legal advice. This is at a time when there is a growing housing crisis, with high levels of homelessness and severe overcrowding, and with proposed cutbacks in housing benefit. The government is also proposing substantial cuts in welfare benefits especially to people with disabilities. Where are these clients supposed to get advice? In any democratic society claiming to be based on the rule of law, people should be able to have access to justice regardless of their ability to pay.”
Camden Council deputy leader Labour councillor Angela Mason, who worked at the centre when it first opened in 1973, said she was “appalled” by the decision. She added that the council had written to the LSC to support the centre.
An LSC spokesman said they would not comment on individual bids, but that the decision had been taken on the basis of an audit of services offered and that the changes would mean more people would be able to access advice in boroughs where previously no legal aid had been available.
They said: “The tenders were carried out openly and transparently, in line with procurement law. This was not a price-based tender. The focus throughout has been on obtaining quality-assured advice where clients need it.”
LSC chairman Sir Bill Callaghan added: “An insistence on ensuring quality advice provision where it is needed is at the heart of our civil contracts tendering process. We are confident that we now have a quality provider base, and quality-assured advice provision.”