Revealed: legal advice for asylum seekers disappearing due to legal aid cuts
Jo Wilding, University of Brighton Ever since changes were introduced in 2013 to the way legal aid works in England and Wales, campaigners , judges and politicians have been telling the government that many people are now unable to access legal advice and representation. In October, the government announced a long-awaited review of the changes made in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO). This is urgently needed and welcome. My ongoing research with asylum lawyers suggests that the changes have created serious difficulties for people to access legal aid, even for cases that should still be covered by it, such as asylum, trafficking, certain types of housing law and welfare benefits. It is also increasingly difficult for lawyers to provide legal aid for these kinds of cases. Rates of pay for all areas of civil legal aid work were cut by 10% in 2011, before LAPSO took almost all non-asylum immigration law out of the scope of legal...