We have heard that Ken Clarke, the Justice Secretary is proposing that welfare claimants will no longer be able to seek legal aid to challenge their benefits levels.
.
The current situation
The Legal Services Commission (the LSC) provides funding for advice and assistance for welfare benefits. This advice is means tested and is only available to those individuals with a disposable income of less than £649.00 per month and with less than £8,000 capital.
The sums involved in benefit claims tend to be very small compared to the costs which the LSC have to pay for assisting the claimant. For example, LSC funding will not pay for representing a claimant at a Tribunal hearing; lawyers either attend tribunal hearings for free or they send the client along with a script or they ask the tribunal to consider written representations.
…..
Some would argue that the main problems with legal aid is that it encourages risk-free, speculative litigation, and fuels a costly compensation culture. The fact that claimants receiving legal aid are not responsible for defendants’ costs if their case is unsuccessful essentially puts them in a no-lose situation. Defendants i.e the state, on the other hand, just can’t win because it is going to be out of pocket whatever happens.
On the other hand however, for many this is the only hope of righting a wrong: by definition, they cannot afford to pay for their day in court.
