The report in full from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Just half of face-to-face housing advice available on legal aid was used last year despite soaring repossessions, the Bureau can reveal. Data obtained through a Freedom of Information request shows that the government paid for face-to-face legal help in 34,817 cases in the year to April 2014. This was just 55% of what the government had provided for. In some areas as little as 11% of the available help was used. This is despite a five year-high in landlord repossessions. The government has responded by cutting legal aid advice for the current year by almost a fifth, citing “a decrease in client demand”. But the Bureau’s investigation suggests that there are several reasons why people who face eviction and who are eligible for legal aid are not taking up the advice available: people are confused over what advice is still funded, there is a smaller pool of organisations providing such advice and an increasing number of areas with few or no legal aid lawyers. Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan called on the government to “get a grip” on the situation and warned that low take-up could result in further cuts. thebureauinvestigates/2014/11/26/half-of-legal-aid-housing-advice-unused-despite-rising-evictions/
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 10:10:32 +0000
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