Legal Aid campaign

We have been co-ordinating parliamentary lobbying from a coalition of charities concerned about the implications for the welfare of children and young people of the Government's latest proposals for cutting legal aid.

The government's current Legal Aid reforms - under the banner ‘Transforming Legal Aid' - propose widespread change, limiting those who can access legal advice as well as limiting the ability to challenge decisions made by public bodies. Whilst the proposals will affect many vulnerable groups of people, children and young people are likely to be affected disproportionately. Click here to read our latest briefing on the impact of the TLA proposals

Previously, in 2011-12 we led a strenuous campaign to protect children and young people from the worst effects of The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Bill, which came into force in April 2012 as the LASPO Act 2012, significantly reducing entitlement to legal aid in many areas of civil law. We successfully demonstrated the impact of the changes on children and young people and were successful in gaining some minor concessions during the passage through parliament of the Bill. Nevertheless the changes will have a major impact on children and young people’s access to justice. Click here to read our briefing on the impact of LASPO or here to read our joint report with the Law Society

 

Tagged as: 
Publication date: 
Monday, July 29, 2013