Agenda item

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance on the impact of the reductions in legal aid on access to justice with a focus on its affect within family justice.

The report indicated that the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) revoked its predecessor, the Access to Justice Act 1999, and introduced unprecedented cuts in legal aid; that up until the passing of LASPO, legal aid was available for almost all areas of law, subject to specified exceptions; that as a result of LASPO legal aid was cut across both criminal and civil law matters and Legal aid ceased to be available in the following areas of law:-

·         Clinical negligence cases (except certain cases involving neurological injury to infants)

·         Employment cases (except those under the Equality Act 2010 or in relation to victims of human trafficking)

·         Private family law cases, such as divorce and child contact (except cases involving domestic violence, child abuse or abduction)

·         Housing disputes (except where there is serious disrepair, homelessness or anti-social behaviour)

·         Debt (except where there is a risk of homelessness)

·         Immigration (except cases involving detention and refugee claims)

·         Education (except special needs cases)

·         Welfare benefits claims (except appeals to the Upper Tribunal or higher courts)

The report focussed primarily on the impact that LAPSO had had in respect of private family law cases and indicated that in relation to all private (not public, i.e. Sefton Children’s Services case matters) family law matters legal aid had been removed in its entirety, save for those individuals who had specific, recent, evidence of domestic violence or child abuse and that without the necessary evidence proving that an individual was a victim of domestic abuse any application for legal aid would not be considered; and detailed the effect that the cuts have had on the legal system, which included an increased number of Litigants in Person, particularly in the family and civil courts, which placed unprecedented pressures on courts and voluntary services. Nearly 90% of respondents who worked with family courts reported an increase in self-representation; and this resulted in cases not being properly presented, which could lead to extra delays, pressures and costs on the court system, as well as litigants not making points or speaking up when they should, so damaging their case.

The report concluded that a report published by The Commons Justice Committee on the 4th March 2015 commented:-

·         “while it had made significant savings in the cost of the [legal aid] scheme, the Ministry had harmed access to justice for some litigants and had not achieved the other three out of four of its stated objectives for the reforms.” and

·         “It was clear to us that the urgency attached by the Government to the programme of savings militated against having a research-based and well-structured programme of change to the provision of civil legal aid.”

and that the Ministry of Justice was in the process of undertaking a Post-Implementation Review of Part 2 of LASPO and that a report would be prepared later in 2018 drawing on the views of stakeholders and available data.

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:-

·         The resource implications for the Council in becoming involved in cases relating to Section 37 of the Children’s Act 1989

·          People being excluded from the justice system due to the implications of LASPO  

RESOLVED:

That the report on the impact of the reductions in legal aid on access to justice with a focus on its affect within family justice be noted.