The impact of LASPO on routes to justice

Sigafoos, J; Organ, J; Crawford, B; Eaton, A; Potschulat, M; Sharma, P; Waite, M; Whiteford, M

Abstract

This research underlines the emotional, social, financial and mental health impacts
for individuals who have attempted to resolve their legal problems without legal aid,
following the implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of
Offenders Act (LASPO) in 2013.
LASPO introduced funding cuts to legal aid and narrowed the scope and financial
eligibility criteria, with the result that fewer people could access legal advice and
representation for problems in areas such as family, employment and welfare
benefits law. We interviewed over 100 people in the Liverpool City Region, with
problems in at least one of these areas of law, to understand how LASPO had
affected their options for resolving those issues. We also interviewed a number of
advice providers and legal aid practitioners, and analysed national data from Citizens
Advice.
Many participants reported significant financial deprivation as a result of trying but
not being able to resolve their legal issues. Some were unable to afford food,
adequate housing or other essentials. A lack of preventive legal help led to delays in
resolution, which often made problems worse. There was also evidence that costs
were passed to other parts of the public sector, including an increased reliance on
welfare benefits as a result of unresolved employment issues.
Family law
• The high cost of legal fees is a key barrier to justice. Some participants who
paid for legal advice or representation reported going into debt as a result.
• People’s inability to pay for expert or specialist evidence without legal aid may
have led to courts making decisions on the basis of insufficient information.
• Cuts to legal aid have had a negative impact on children’s lives, especially in
relation to child contact cases.
Employment law
• The main barriers to justice are the high cost of legal representation, the
difficulty of navigating the tribunal process without support and a low level of
knowledge about employment rights.
• Many participants reported that the costs of bringing their claims to tribunal
were disproportionate to the value of the claims. This deterred them from
bringing claims and made it harder to find a solicitor willing to take their case.
• Participants had fewer options for accessing third-sector specialist advice and
representation. Those participants who went to tribunal had to represent
themselves as a result, and in general they lacked the skills or experience to
do this competently.
Welfare benefits law
• LASPO has significantly reduced the capacity of voluntary sector
organisations to provide welfare law advice. There is almost no specialist
advice left to provide support to appeal benefits decisions.
• The removal of welfare benefits law from the scope of legal aid has
exacerbated the impact of recent welfare reforms, which is likely to have
affected disabled people disproportionately.
Most participants tried multiple routes to resolve a single issue: attempting to resolve
problems on their own, trying to access free advice and taking steps to get paid
advice or representation before courts or tribunals. But without legal aid, almost all
the participants struggled to solve their problems.

Citation

Sigafoos, J., Organ, J., Crawford, B., Eaton, A., Potschulat, M., Sharma, P., …Whiteford, M. (2018). The impact of LASPO on routes to justice

• Report Type: Project Report
• Publication Date: Sep 4, 2018
• Deposit Date: Oct 28, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 28, 2019
• Series Title: Research Report
• Series Number: 118
• ISBN: 9781842067512
• Publisher URL: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/impact-laspo-routes-justice
• Related Public URLs: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en