Youth Access

Legal aid cuts will leave young people defenceless

15 February, 2011

Youth Access has responded to the Green Paper on legal aid by warning that the proposals will lead to highly vulnerable children and young people not receiving the help they need and being denied access to justice.

The Government is proposing to cut public funding for the vast majority of cases relating to debt, education, employment, housing, immigration and welfare benefits. The only exceptions will be crisis situations, e.g. where there is an immediate threat of loss of liberty or homelessness. The public will need to access legal aid via a Single Gateway telephone service. Not for profit agencies providing social welfare advice will, on average, lose 92% of their legal aid income, threatening their viability and leaving nowhere for 'survivor' youth organisations to refer young people needing specialist legal support. In effect, young people will be expected to research, prepare and present their own cases in an adult legal system, even where they are disabled or do not speak English.

Youth Access believes that young people have a right to access high quality independent legal advice and representation whenever they need it. We argue in our response that failing to intervene early will exacerbate problems and that the proposed cuts can make no economic sense when, as well as creating injustice and hardship, they will inevitably lead to greatly increased knock-on costs to other public services in the longer term as a result of increased youth unemployment, homelessness, poverty, ill-health and crime.

Read our response to the legal aid Green Paper

Youth Access chairs a coalition of charities committed to protecting and enhancing children and young people's access to legal services - go to the website of JustRights, the campaign for fair access to legal services for children and young people

For further information about Youth Access’ work in this area, please contact James Kenrick

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