Nothing short of a scandal

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Lord Bach calls for the government to retain legal aid in the face of cuts.

Law Centres have been a vital part of our legal system for many years. Across England and Wales they provide access to justice for the poorest, most marginalised and vulnerable in our society. By giving free legal advice to those who cannot afford to pay, they help many thousands of people each year solve their legal problems in the areas of welfare benefits, debt, housing and employment. Law Centres are largely funded by legal aid; of course, they also receive some funding from local authorities and donations.

Legal aid has played, by far, the most important part in keeping Law Centres open and available to people who need them. The lawyers employed are certainly not ‘fat cats’. Many of them have sacrificed much more lucrative legal careers simply because they want to help ordinary people get justice.

Now all this is at severe risk. If the government succeeds in taking social welfare law out of scope for legal aid ­– which is exactly what it is proposing to do in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Bill currently going through the House of Lords – the effect on Law Centres and those they serve so well will be disastrous. It will cost the individual, society and the government much more in the long run.

Updated figures suggest that funding will decline by 85.8 per cent and the number of cases dealt with per year by up to 90 per cent. Overall, as a result of the bill, over 700,000 people who receive legal aid advice now will not be able to in the future. Law Centres whose staff have already taken a 10 per cent cut will be forced to close – often in the most deprived parts of our country.

This outrage must not be allowed to happen. All the major parties have praised the crucial work that Law Centres do and yet, unbelievably, the government is behaving as though it wants to destroy them. It is nothing short of a scandal. My question is to bring this issue starkly before the British public.

It comes down to this – is Parliament going to vote through a bill that will make our country a less fair, less tolerant and a less civilised place?

Lord Bach Life Peerage since 1998 and has been the Treasurer of Legal Aid group since.