Legal aid cuts could see Stoke-on-Trent residents take law into their own hands, warns top adviser

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Friday, March 08, 2013
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The Sentinel

ONE of the country's top experts on legal aid fears that people in Stoke-on-Trent may take the law into their own hands once major funding cuts come into force next month.

Richard Miller, head of legal aid at the Law Society, fears 'society will suffer' once state support for many civil cases is abolished on April 1.

  1. CONCERN Richard Miller meets law students from Keele University.

    CONCERN: Richard Miller meets law students from Keele University.

Mr Miller visited Stoke-on-Trent yesterday to discuss the issue with representatives from the legal profession and the voluntary sector.

He talked to them about the impact the cuts will have, and the approaches being taken by organisations to ease the resulting problems.

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North Staffordshire has one of the highest levels of legal aid use in the country, with around 10,000 people accessing it every year.

The Government is withdrawing support for a wide range of civil matters, including divorce and welfare cases, in order to save £350 million.

Mr Miller says the cuts will have worrying consequences in Stoke-on-Trent, both for vulnerable families who rely on legal aid and society as a whole.

He said: "In areas that have been less reliant on legal aid, you will find other support networks which help people in need, such as churches and other organisations.

"But in places such as Stoke-on-Trent, where there is a concentrated high level of need, there is just not going to be anything else that will be able to make up the difference.

"This could result in a decline in social cohesion, as people decide to take the law into their own hands."

Keele University School of Law's community legal companion scheme is one of the new ways in which legal assistance is being provided in North Staffordshire. Law students work with partner agencies such as charity Brighter Futures to help unrepresented litigants through the legal process.

But Mr Miller believed more will have to be done.

He said: "I suspect we will see all sorts of innovative approaches such as this. But it can't come close to replicating what will be lost through the legal aid cuts. Other organisations are facing funding cuts of their own."

Gill Brown, chief executive of Brighter Futures, which provides support to vulnerable people, said: "It's not just the affect on charities which we should be concerned about. It's the impact on our prison system, on our A&E departments, our police cells and our children's homes."

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9 Comments

  • Profile image for miltongarage

    by miltongarage

    Sunday, March 10 2013, 2:19PM

    “@jiggajigga

    You're spot on! The real axis of evil is British Imperialism and the City of London from where it reaches out to control tworldwide institutions through strong connections with European Royal Families, the Rothschild's, selected banking and financial institutions, Freemasons, Friends of Israel many other "Elite Groups.

    Our current fascist government is hell bent on doing its bit for the New World Order, and that process is to elevate themselves and the wealthy whilst creating a massive expendable underclass. I'd say so far they were making pretty good progress in their ambitions. We have to start fighting back!”

  • Profile image for caldoncut

    by caldoncut

    Saturday, March 09 2013, 12:04PM

    “Perhaps it will even out the field when working fathers have to foot their own legal bill to try and get access to their kids while their ex uses unlimited Tax funded money to block them out of spite. Not including cases of abuse & violence where limited access may be justified.”

  • Profile image for LongTallSarah

    by LongTallSarah

    Friday, March 08 2013, 5:28PM

    “These cuts will hurt some lawyers, mostly the ones who don't make lots of money from high-profile cases, but take on the unglamorous cases for ordinary people in desperate situations.

    But they will hurt charitable and voluntary organisations providing high quality advice on debt, housing, benefits and employment far more, as those bodies have increasingly had to rely on Legal Aid funding as Council and other funding has been cut.

    And the really serious losers will be the poorest and most vulnerable people of all, those needing help to challenge illegal eviction, unfair dismissal and wrong decisions on their benefit entitlement made after shoddy Atos medicals. The rich will always be able to buy 'justice'; the poor will be priced out of it.”

  • Profile image for Maxnodif

    by Maxnodif

    Friday, March 08 2013, 12:52PM

    “Lawyers I count as the third worst scum of vile money making rouges, number 1 are politicians, number 2 are the useless Judges followed by the money making machines called Lawyers.”

  • Profile image for jiggajagga

    by jiggajagga

    Friday, March 08 2013, 12:33PM

    “First they came for the Students and I didn't speak out because I wasn't Student
    Then they came for the Sick & Disabled and I didn't speak out because I wasn't Sick or Disabled
    Then they came for the NHS and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a NHS Worker
    Then they came for the Unemployed and I didn't speak out because I wasn't Unemployed
    Then they came for the Pensioners and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Pensioner
    Then they came for the Single Parents and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Single Parent
    Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me, especially since this vile government stopped legal aid!

    What frightens me is where this will all end for us?”

  • Profile image for mainstar

    by mainstar

    Friday, March 08 2013, 11:54AM

    “If they wern't so greedy then these things wouldnt happen. After all what makes some trouble making lawyer more valuable than a Doctor except that one can ruin your life whereas the other can save it.”

  • Profile image for BucknallMel

    by BucknallMel

    Friday, March 08 2013, 11:35AM

    “Yes, stokie, and anyone who has a genuine case - like the many decent men unfairly refused access to the kids they are forced to financially support, and the genuinely sick and disabled who have been told they can work such as the poor woman with a head full of shrapnel told by Atos she has no care needs - but who can't afford the fees, will lose out. A better and more humane idea would have been to look at the fees charged and set caps on them. But there are far too many lawyers in parliament for that to ever happen.”

  • Profile image for stokie65

    by stokie65

    Friday, March 08 2013, 11:13AM

    “This will improve the position with children from seperated parents as solicitors stir up trouble to earn fees to sort things out (that they caused) - and guess what they tell the parent(s) it wont cost as the tax payer pays. Seperated parents should sort things out themselves and if this cant be done to receive help (counselling) who motivation to resolve not stir up trouble to earn fees and cause additional costs to the courts and those jokers at CAFCASS.”

  • Profile image for spudder56

    by spudder56

    Friday, March 08 2013, 10:29AM

    “the only thing that concerns the solicitors is that the gravy train is coming to a stop and that there comfortable lifestyles all funded by the taxpayer are going to be more difficult WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD”

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