Family and social welfare law cull

The most socially excluded will once again be left on a limb as legal aid cuts leave them voiceless to defend their rights. YLAL is shocked that the most recent round of tenders for family, housing and social welfare contracts has almost halved the number of firms able to advise in these areas. This devastating reduction of 46% of firms providing publicly funded legal advice in family and social welfare law will once again drive apart the privileged few able to pay for access to justice from those with limited funds, who have no means of redress.

This occurs just as austerity bites, with over 1 million likely to become homeless in 2011 due to the cut in housing benefit alone – let alone the impact of other cuts to other services. Clients in a wide variety of situations, from those suffering horrific domestic violence at the hands of partners or family members, to those desperate to assume care of their grandchildren in order to protect them from abuse and prevent them from going into care, will now face a drastic reduction in the availability of services.

Many may be left without representation, or be forced to change firms in the middle of already complicated and stressful cases. Disruption in the provision of legal representation is likely to lead to greater costs to the State as a result of allowing these issues to fester and grow into greater and more complex problems, which then become far more expensive to remedy.