The legal aid bill must be cut. Here’s how – The Guardian
“Legal aid became bloated and inefficient. What’s needed is a better network of law centres and Citizens Advice Bureaux.”
The Guardian, 13th December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Legal aid became bloated and inefficient. What’s needed is a better network of law centres and Citizens Advice Bureaux.”
The Guardian, 13th December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“District Judge Nicholas Crichton takes exception to the recently announced £41m increase in the cost of the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics. It is difficult not to agree with him, however much you might be looking forward to next year’s festivities, especially when vital services such as the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC), which he leads, have a financial question mark hanging over their future.”
LAG News Blog, 7th December 2011
“Without decrying the achievements of voluntary legal work, let’s keep a sense of proportion.”
The Guardian, 7th December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Kenneth Clarke’s plans to slice £350m out of the annual legal aid budget appear to be losing momentum after the justice secretary unexpectedly announced a six-month delay to the programme.”
The Guardian, 1st December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Changing the culture (PDF)
Speech by Sir Nicholas Wall, President of the Family Division
The Law Reform Committee of the Bar Council, 29th November 2011
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
“Two more senior judges have publicly joined the chorus of those urging the government to rethink proposals to restrict legal aid, branding the plans a false economy and impediment to swift justice.”
The Guardian, 29th November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Justice secretary abandons plan to abolish post amid heavy opposition from Royal British Legion.”
The Guardian, 23rd November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Government proposals to slice £350m out the annual legal aid budget undermine the constitutional principle that citizens must have access to justice, a senior House of Lords committee has warned. Issued by the constitution select committee, which includes prominent crossbench and Conservative peers, the report is a significant challenge to the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill days before its second reading in the upper house.”
The Guardian, 17th November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Campaigners won the latest legal battle over library closures when a judge in London allowed challenges against plans to shut libraries in Gloucestershire and Somerset.”
The Guardian, 16th November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“LAG commissioned the disability charity Scope to research the impact of the proposed cuts in legal aid on benefits advice for disabled people. The report, Legal aid in welfare: the tool we can’t afford to lose, which is published today, demonstrates the serious consequences of the government’s proposals on disabled people and argues that taking benefits advice out of scope will undermine the government’s welfare reform programme.”
LAG News Blog, 14th November 2011
“Two disabled men who faced losing their right to care won a landmark High Court case yesterday over cost cutting by their council. It was the latest in a series of rulings that threatens to disrupt the Government’s attempts to slash local authority spending.”
The Independent, 12th November 2011
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Two severely disabled adults have won a landmark high court battle over cost-cutting by their local authority when a judge ruled that Isle of Wight council’s plans to reduce its adult social care budget are unlawful.”
The Guardian, 11th November 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Councils across England could be forced to spend hundreds of millions of pounds extra on care for the elderly after a landmark High Court case.”
Daily Telegraph, 10th November 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Ministers are being urged not to restrict legal aid for disabled people wanting to challenge benefit decisions.”
BBC News, 31st October 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“More women living in abusive relationships will be killed or driven to suicide if the government pushes through cuts to legal aid, a leading national charity has warned.”
The Guardian, 31st October 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“A High Court test case has been launched to tackle the ‘biggest robbery’ from the pension payouts to British pensioners, unions have claimed. The head of Britain’s largest civil service union sets out the case against the change in pension indexation from the retail price index to the consumer price index.”
Daily Telegraph, 25th October 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Legal aid cuts aimed at saving £350m a year will result in courts being deluged by people without lawyers and will restrict access to justice, some of the country’s most senior judges have told the Guardian.”
The Guardian, 25th October 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk