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Ken Clarke announces fund for social welfare law advice of ‘up to £20m’
Speaking this afternoon in the House of Commons debate on the Legal, Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, Kenneth Clarke has announced a fund of ‘up to £20m’ for CABx and other not for profit advice agencies to provide social welfare law advice -
see LAG blog -
[ Edited: 29 Jun 2011 at 04:26 pm by Ros ]Here’s the quote from Hansard yesterday -
29 Jun 2011 : Column 994
Mr Clarke: Let me deal with this important point, because I have heard widespread concern, including from my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough, about the future of not-for-profit advice centres. I agree that they do important work in providing quality, worthwhile advice of the kind required by very many people who should not need adversarial lawyers. Legal aid represents only one of several income streams for many organisations, with 85% of citizens advice bureaux funding coming from other sources. Half of all bureaux get no legal aid funds at all. This issue needs to be, and has been, considered on a cross-Government, interdepartmental basis. We are working with the sector and across Government to ensure that the Government reforms help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the advice services available to the public, and we will provide up to £20 million of additional funding in this financial year to help achieve that. We are also, of course, mindful of the impact of reforms beyond this financial year and will continue to consider the issues arising from that.
Haven’t been able to find any other details as yet as to what, who or how this extra £20million will be spent, and it certainly cannot replace the loss of all welfare benefits advice, which cost £22million anyway in 2008/09.
Is it me, or does Mr Clarke’s “generous” proposal have a rather disingenuous slant within it?
For the sake of argument, let’s say the £20m will help lots and lots of people get fantastic advice (bear with this). Now, one day, a clmt loses at FtT, a law centre assists with a perfectly proper appeal to the UT but the clmt is unsuccessful. At this point, let’s also say for the sake of argument that there is a strong case that there has been an error in law and that it is not a case seeking to “push the envelope”.
So, with it’s magnificent funding, the law centre looks at the UT’s decision, agrees that there is a very good case to take to the Court of Appeal, then what? Well, if legal aid is abolished for social security matters, how in all practicality is the clmt meant to be able to afford to take it further?
I have just had a chat with a someone whose work involves cases of alleged benefit fraud and he makes a further rather sobering point. Let’s say the clmt IS successful at FtT and UT, but the DWP (or LA) take it to the Court of Appeal. Just how is the clmt meant to find the money to defend THOSE cases in the absence of legal aid?
In short, any additional funding for law centres et al cannot in any way shape of form be seriously considered to “compensate” the withdrawal of legal aid - at least as far as I can see. What have I overlooked and/or misunderstood?
I don’t think you’ve overlooked anything essentially Kevin.
This is a short-term fix at the very best, and with little detail about what this funding is intended to bring about, it’s difficult to see how this will help in the medium to long term.
The ability of individuals to bring challenges against erroneous decisions will be cut off at the knees, if the proposals as they stand go through anyway, and the inequality of arms argument, under Article 6 (?) is already being predicted as producing far more spending in time, as unrepresented clients find themselves cast adrift.
For a benefit case going to Court of Appeal, could perhaps argue that it is an ‘exceptional case’ for purposes of clause 9 of Legal Aid and Sentencing Bill (e.g. because of particular circumstances of case or wider public interest), and so eligible for legal aid even though concerns excluded area of law -
Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy said:
“As a charity that helps more than two million people every year we welcome the government’s recognition of the vital role advice agencies play in resolving problems that put people’s homes, jobs and livelihoods at risk.
“Ken Clarke deserves real praise for this extra money for free, independent advice services. It will go some way towards ensuring that vulnerable people can continue to get the advice they need.
“However, Citizens Advice remains very concerned about the legal aid bill being debated today. The problem is not just that the cuts are so deep – what’s left of civil legal aid will be inaccessible for too many people and unworkable for too many advice providers.”
Citizens Advice response to Ken Clarke’s announcement on funding for advice services
Wonder whose going to get this cash then?
There’s a piece in the Law Gazette about the threat of 1 in 3 Law Centres being forced to shut down if legal aid cuts go through that contains a curious statements about this £20 million funding.
The MoJ is to provide a £20m fund to help law centres to make the transition to the new tighter funding regime. However, law centre solicitors suggested this would not be enough to keep them afloat.
An MoJ spokesman said the not-for-profit sector was not exempted from the need to make more efficient use of taxpayers’ money within the legal aid system.
He added that the MoJ has set up a transition fund that will make £107m available to the wider voluntary sector.
This appears to imply that the £20 million previously announced is intended only for Law Centres, and that there is to be a separate and bigger pot of money available for other not-for-profit advcie providers? Can’t find anything else on this at the moment, if anyone knows any more, then please feel free to share.
Possibly a reference to the Transition fund set up last year as part of the Government spending review? http://thirdsector.co.uk/news/Article/1036186/chancellor-announces-100m-transition-fund-charities-real-hardship/
Possibly a reference to the Transition fund set up last year as part of the Government spending review? http://thirdsector.co.uk/news/Article/1036186/chancellor-announces-100m-transition-fund-charities-real-hardship/
Yes, someone suggested similar on ilegal but I’m not convinced. That Transition Fund was coordinated by the BLF with funding coming from The Cabinet Office and the Office for Civil Society specifically - unless someone at the MoJ is playing fast and loose with their attribution of funding sources, or the Gazette got the wrong end of the stick maybe?
The only reference to “transion fund ” I can find from the MoJ is regarding the transition fund already announced and dished out
To me, it seems the Gazette may have its wires crossed.
The only reference to “transion fund ” I can find from the MoJ is regarding the transition fund already announced and dished out
To me, it seems the Gazette may have its wires crossed.
Ah, good spot Steve, looks like you and Ruth are both correct on this one. Cheers Paul
Cabinet Office press release today.
£16.8m support for free advice services
A new £16.8million central government fund to help not-for-profit free advice services in England will be delivered by the Big Fund, Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, announced today. The fund will provide immediate support to debt, welfare benefits, employment and housing advice services. In addition, the Cabinet Office will conduct a review to ensure that people continue to have access to good quality free advice services in their communities.
Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, said:
“This is a serious commitment to help free advice services carry on delivering much needed help to people struggling with debt, welfare benefits, employment and housing problems in these difficult economic times. The Cabinet Office will also be carrying out a review of free advice services to ensure that we do all we can to help the sector.”
Nat Sloane BIG England Chair said:
“In delivering the Advice Services Fund programme on behalf of the Cabinet Office, BIG will work to ensure that this important funding reaches these organisations as quickly as possible. These grants will make a real difference in enabling advice services to continue to provide good quality support and guidance to people in their communities.”
The new Advice Services Fund will open for applications by the end of November and will be managed by BIG Fund. It will be for not-for-profit advice providers in England. Applicants must:
· provide advice in at least one of the following priority areas: debt, welfare benefits, employment and housing; and
· be able to evidence public funding cuts of at least 10% for the specified advice service areas from central and local government sources in 2011/12.
Priority will be given to organisations with higher levels of reductions in funds. How applicants plan to use their grants, their plans for the future (including ways to improve efficiency) and how the quality of their advice services help meet local needs, will also be taken into account. The Advice Services Fund will provide grants of £40,000 to £70,000 to be spent on service delivery.
The Government review will conclude early next year. It will look at the funding environment for these services, likely levels of demand, and how government can play a positive role.
And for those outside England?
they’d said it was going to be £20m, and now it’s £16.8m .... is this the bit for outside england?
third sector saying ‘A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said the remaining £3.2m would be available separately in Scotland and Wales.’
more from third sector ...
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice ... “This funding is of course a welcome stop-gap – but that’s all it is. The advice review needs to find a sensible long-term solution. Local government and legal aid cuts are making it impossible to meet demand and are leaving too many people with nowhere to turn.”
Gail Emerson, campaign manager for Justice for All ... the fund is “just another stop-gap fix” and “comes as the government is pushing the Lords to sanction a cut of £63m every year to legal aid advice in the very areas of advice this fund will support. This one-off fund of less than a third of that amount is not enough to fill the gap.”
Details are now available on BIG website about this funding. Closing date for applications is 22 December.
Priority will be given to organisations that have experienced high levels of cuts and those that haven’t received funding through the Transition Fund. Account will also be taken of how applicants plan to use their grants, their plans for the future, including ways to improve efficiency, and how the quality of their advice services helps meet local needs.
The Advice Services Fund categories are:
* Advice on debt
* Advice on welfare benefits
* Advice on housing
* Advice on employment
I’ve heard it mentioned on i-legal that anyone intending to apply using the online application form must complete this in one sitting - there is no facility to save and come back to it apparently, so be warned.
Also some confusion about whether the 10% fees reduction in October will count towards criteria - general consensus appears to be not, as it “only” affects half of the financial year effectively.
Listened to the budget today and sitting here at work wondering what the world has come to. You put in the best years of your life for an organisation only to be treated like dirt. Mind you I have sat here at my desk watching the world go by for the past 20 odd years-had a few near misses with employment tribunals and the like but still here churning out the same old tosh year after year. Luckily the head honcho’s don’t know any better especially my 2 big bosses -too busy worrying about where the next pounds coming from to know what’s going on. Anyway I digress-yes it’s bad news for all those organisations struggling to stay afloat but one less competitor for us to worry about and more time for me to keep churning out that same old tosh and worrying about what to get for me tea. I feel a song coming on let me get me guitar-wonder if call me Dave will join me for a duet-perhaps get Nick on backing vocals. ” only the lonely” anyone”?
Clarification on a few issues has been added to the associated Q&A, including this section on legal aid contract holders (p.5).
How should I consider income from Legal Aid contracts?
The Advice Services Fund criteria applies to all eligible sources of tax-payer funding equally. You must ensure all your income meets the rules in full. Based on Treasury requirements for spending public money, the Advice Services Fund needs to ensure successful organisations submit evidence of current income. That is not the same as the absence of income, or speculation, or future cuts in income.
In the case of eligible income from Civil Legal Aid budget (i.e Legal Services Commission) we can only accept income you have received to date, at the point at which the application to ASF is submitted. In practice, this is likely to mean you will only be able to evidence income supported by final payments. For the 2011/12 year, that is likely to mean including income across a shorter period of time, ie, up to the date you apply to Advice Services Fund. That will be, at the latest, 22 December 2011. For the previous 2010/11 year, it is likely you will have evidence for the full 12 months.
Closing date is 22 December don’t forget.