Low Commission urges reform to social welfare law provision
updated on 10 January 2014
The Low Commission has released its report into the impact of cuts in funding for social welfare law advice. Led by Lord Low, the commission calls for urgent reforms to ensure that those who need it can access help in relation to employment, debt, housing and other social welfare problems.
Among other things, the independent commission has called for:
- a national strategy for advice and legal support;
- £100 million for implementation, half to come from government and half to come from other sources, including a levy on payday loan companies; and
- the restoration of legal aid for housing cases.
During its year-long enquiry, the commission heard evidence from advice-giving bodies and others throughout the United Kingdom, including reports of a five-week wait for appointments at the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) in Manchester; a trebling of demand in welfare benefit appeals in Sutton; and a Birmingham CAB that lost more than half its local authority grant (down from £590,000 to £265,000) and £700,000 in legal aid funding.
Lord Low said: "Our report makes sobering reading and we are calling on political parties of all stripes to recognise the need to act before we reach crisis point. All around the country we found advice agencies buckling under the strain, and ordinary people left with nowhere to turn."
