The number of claimants getting legal aid to help with social security appeals has plummeted by 99.5% as a result of massive cuts to the legal aid budget.

Figures produced by the government show that the 83,000 claimants received legal help in 2012-13, before the cuts came in. This plummeted to a tiny 440 claimants in the last financial year.

It means that whilst the DWP have invested massively in presenting officers to represent the department at personal independence payment hearings, claimants are left to fight alone.

The Ministry of Justice have announced that they will carry out a review of legal aid cuts, but stress that they still intend to focus on saving money rather than giving equal access to justice.

You can read the full story in the Independent.

Comments

Write comments...
or post as a guest
Loading comment... The comment will be refreshed after 00:00.

Be the first to comment.

We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.