01/04/2014
Legal aid entitlement from April 2013
In April 2013 the Legal Aid Sentencing and Protection of Offenders Act 2012 came into effect.
In terms of legal aid, this resulted in very significant cuts in (1) the areas covered by legal aid and in (2) the financial eligibility for legal aid.
Legal aid was NOT, however, cut completely.
Legal aid is still available for advice in the following areas:
- Community care – any issues arising in relation to the community support needs of children and adults with ill health/disabilities, including disabled facilities grants and the needs of carers
- Mental health – issues relating to detention and treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983 or the Mental Capacity Act 2005
- Debt – but only if your house is at risk or you are about to be made bankrupt
- Welfare benefits – but only for appeals to higher courts
- Education – only for special educational needs via a telephone helpline
- Discrimination
- Family – but only for mediation, or if there is provable domestic violence, forced marriage, or child protection issues
- Housing - only for possession cases, unlawful eviction, homelessness, antisocial behaviour, harassment injunctions or serious disrepair
- Asylum and Immigration – only in limited cases
- Clinical negligence for birth injuries, inquests, harassment, civil claims for abuse/sexual assault, confiscation proceedings, gang related violence, nuisance from environmental pollution, cross border disputes
And for
(2) Eligibility:
Non means tested legal aid (i.e. available to everyone regardless of means) is available for:
- People detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 who are appealing to the mental health tribunal
- People appealing to the Court of Protection against deprivation of liberty safeguards (DOLS)
- People being questioned under caution in police stations
Means tested legal aid is available for other areas of law covered by legal aid as described above. There is a separate income and capital (savings) test.
Income – entitlement is passported for income if in receipt of Income Support, income related JSA or ESA, or Guaranteed State Pension Credit. If not in receipt of these, all income received from all sources including child benefit and tax credits (but not including DLA) is taken into account, deductions made for income tax and national insurance, and for housing costs, with allowances also made for work related expenses, dependants and child care costs. If what is left is less than £733 per month then you will be eligible on income. Entitlement must be evidenced with recent documentation – e.g. DWP award letter, bank statements showing income received etc.
Capital – you have to have less than £8000 savings. If you have more than £8000 savings you are ineligible for any legal aid. If you have between £3000 and £8000, the basic form of legal aid (“legal help”) is available without a contribution. But if you need to go to court, and thus require enhanced legal aid (“legal representation”) then you will be required to contribute any savings you have above £3000 towards the legally aided costs. If you have equity in your home (i.e. the value of the house less the mortgage) of more than £100,000 then you will not qualify for legal aid.
The rules change frequently so you will need to check eligibility if the need arises.
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