Legal aid changes ‘will hit vulnerable in city’

PLANS to cut the number of law firms offering some types of legal aid could leave vulnerable Plymouth families without access to justice, says Labour MP Alison Seabeck.

Ms Seabeck, the MP for Plymouth Moor View, has written to the Ministry of Justice to express serious concerns about the Law Commission proposals to cut the number of law firms supporting families through the legal aid system.

She says it will impact on people’s ability to access legal advice.

“Plymouth is being reduced from 14 down to five firms and the area around the city, Saltash, Ivybridge and Torpoint, is being totally denuded of firms able to offer this type of legal aid,” Ms Seabeck said.

“This will mean there are real problems in terms of cost for access to justice for those families.”

Nationally the Legal Services Commission is slashing the number of firms able to offer social, welfare and family legal aid from 2,400 to 1,300.

Lawyers have warned that the cuts risk creating ‘advice deserts’.

The Law Society said the move could result in thousands of people struggling to get access to lawyers in parts of the country.

In Cornwall, 50 firms offering legal aid are being reduced to fewer than ten.

The commission has asked law firms to reapply for the three-year contracts during a revised tendering process, saying the intention was to provide a “better quality service”.

Clients with an ongoing family case with a firm that has not been awarded a contract will not be affected by the change, as all providers can continue cases opened before the new contracts come into force on October 14.