Inclusion London’s submission to the Post-Implementation Review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) came into force in 2013 and made significant changes to the provision of civil legal aid in England and Wales. The Act has had significant negative impact on Disabled people’s access to justice.   In particular we are concerned about the following areas:

• Narrowing the scope of legal aid and the lack of access to legal advice on welfare benefits cases.
• Changes to means testing rules effectively exclude many people who in reality cannot afford to pay for legal advice. This has particularly devastating consequences for community care disputes. Moreover we are extremely concerned about the fact that Means test does not include extra costs of disability.
• Poor accessibility and quality of advice from mandatory telephone Gateway.
• The impact of the changes to the recoverability of After the Event insurance premiums on disabled people’s access to justice in discrimination cases.

Please click on this link for the full submission: IL Evidence Submission – LASPO