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The Government proposes to remove from the scope of legal aid all welfare benefits and tax credits advice. LITRG asks who will now help those most in need.

Legal aid reform

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill was introduced to Parliament on 21 June 2011. It proposes to remove all welfare benefits and tax credits advice from the scope of legal aid. Furthermore, there will be reductions in legal aid for employment, housing, debt, immigration and family law cases.

At times of economic crisis, a government must take steps to reduce its debt and cut its cloth accordingly.

But LITRG is often at the sharp end of seeing the effects of poor decision-making and inappropriate processes in two of the largest government departments, namely HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions. These deficiencies generate waste and throw a significant burden on to the unrepresented citizen. Faced with both complexity of the law and bureaucratic processes, the unrepresented turn to the voluntary sector for extra knowledge, help and ultimately justice.

Legal aid supports the low-income citizen to obtain that help, but the Ministry of Justice (despite receiving 5,000, largely critical, responses to its recent consultation) intends to plough on with removing welfare benefits and tax credits advice from its scope. Tax advice, except in rare cases, was never within the scope of legal aid.

Inappropriate timing

Leaving aside whether it is fair to take away a safety net from those who need it most, let us examine the timing of this change.

There are many things happening at the moment which add complexity to the lives of the unrepresented, for example:

• Significant changes to the tax credits system, many of which are complex and reduce the support given
• Preparation for the biggest welfare benefits change for 50 years with the introduction of the Universal Credit from 2013
• Continuing changes to the PAYE systems with automatic reconciliations and the introduction of “real time information” with knock-on effects to welfare benefits and debt
• An attack on error and fraud by both HMRC and the DWP which creates hard justice for a range of people who are caught up in these initiatives, but have done nothing wrong.

In LITRG’s view, these developments, coupled with an uncertain economic climate, will create an unprecedented need for advice and help in the next few years.

It therefore seems perverse to take away the legal aid safety net at this time.

Inappropriate optimism?

The Government seems to believe that the computerisation of many DWP and HMRC processes and the “simplification” of the benefits system will drive down the need for advice. Those within LITRG who have been scarred by so many government computer disasters over the last 20 years find the current optimism too hard to swallow.

LITRG accepts that it might be wrong and the changes in the next four years might bring forth great efficiencies and accuracy. But the group also knows that any change drives a need for greater education and help, particularly for those unable to pay for the support they need.

LITRG's conclusion

In LITRG’s view, the legal aid changes should be considered only when the welfare benefits and tax changes have been absorbed and the new regime has settled down, but certainly not before then. Indeed, such a decision should be delayed still further to the time when HMRC and DWP have understood why official error happens and have put in place processes to ensure that no claimant ever loses out as a result of administrative error.

Useful links

LITRG’s February 2011 response to the consultation can be found on the group’s website.