Cuts to legal aid have left entire areas of the country without any provision, new report reveals

The government’s cuts to legal aid have left some areas of the country with no legal aid provision whatsoever, with the unavailability affecting a million people, new research shows.

Analysis by the BBC Shared Data Unit shows that around a million people are living in areas with no access to legal aid for housing issues, while a further 15 million people are living in areas where provision has been reduced to just one overstretched law centre or clinic.

The research also showed that a million fewer legal aid claims are being processed each year compared to 2011-12, when the main raft of cuts were implemented in The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Richard Miller, head of justice at the Law Society, said that the cuts have created “legal aid deserts”. He continued: “Even for those cases where legal aid is still supposed to be available, it can be very difficult for a client to find a lawyer willing to take on the case.”

The Ministry of Justice insisted that it always took “urgent action” when there were concerns about the availability of legal aid in communities.

The BBC’s full report includes more compelling evidence from legal aid lawyers and members of the public who have been affected by the cuts.