GMLC campaign volunteer Mary Horobin explains why a lack of access to justice has real impacts on people experiencing difficulties because of the rising cost of living, and suggests policy reforms that could improve the lives of tenants, employees and benefits claimants this winter.
Since the energy price cap increase in April 2022, stories of how to survive without turning the heating on, showering, or using ovens are every-day occurrences. In this worrying climate, it is essential that everyone can receive the advice and help that they need. Despite this, access to justice has continued to fall. Legal aid providers are closing, and advice services are inundated with enquiries, many of which get turned away. This article explores how the cost-of-living crisis has increased the importance of access to justice, and considers how policy makers should respond.
10 years since LASPO: the state of access to justice
Access to justice is the fundamental right everyone has to receive fair treatment under the law. If people cannot access legal advice or legal services then their rights are not able to be protected by the justice system. A huge vehicle for access to justice is legal aid: legal advice and representation for those who cannot afford it. Upon its introduction in 1949, around 80% of the public were eligible to receive legal aid. The percentage of people eligible is now estimated to be as low as 20%, following legislation limiting eligibility like the 2012 Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO). Additionally, the scope of issues covered by legal aid has been narrowed, meaning legal aid cannot be accessed for the majority of issues within employment, debt, family or benefits law, as well as many other areas.
In July 2021, the House of Commons Justice Committee released a damning report, The Future of Legal Aid, which explicitly stated that the cuts to legal aid have resulted in firms closing down or struggling to provide free legal advice, and that legal issues are unnecessarily escalating due to people being unable to access early advice. The government have made no move to overhaul the legal aid system, despite the clear recommendations of the Justice Committee, the near-unanimous pleas of legal professionals, the cuts’ clear infringement of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights (which protects access to justice), and now the cost-of-living crisis’ exacerbation of the need for access to legal aid.
The cost-of-living crisis increases the need for legal advice
Rising interest rates and rising rents
Rents have been rising rapidly across England and Wales for many years, especially in the private sector where there are no effective rent controls. This year, that looks set to worsen again, as rising interest rates make borrowing money increasingly expensive. Mortgage rates are predicted to rise even further this year and these can result in rent rises, increased evictions, and repossessions. These are issues which place people in very vulnerable positions in which they need immediate and accurate legal advice. This is especially true where landlords seek to evict private tenants using Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, because tenants receive only 2 months’ notice to leave the property, and there is no defence on the grounds that evicting them would be unfair. Another ground for eviction is if a tenant has run up more than 2 months’ or 8 weeks’ arrears – something that will be inevitable for many in the coming months.
Rising costs for those on benefits
The Work and Pensions Committee’s July 2022 Cost of Living report recommended that the government review benefit levels, but the government responded by announcing that benefits will not rise with inflation until April 2023. The government’s one-off payments in the cost-of-living package are not nearly enough to help significantly, either immediately or in the long term. Moreover, there is evidence that they are being poorly administered and not reaching everyone who needs them, including sanctioned claimants on Universal Credit. Local Housing Allowances (housing benefits) have not been raised since 2020, meaning they now cover the rents of less than 30% of properties in each area, leaving many benefits claimants falling into rent arrears. Businesses are struggling to stay open and those looking for jobs are being punished for failing to find employment under the ‘Way to Work’ scheme, with sanctions on benefits at the highest they have been since pre-Covid. Benefits advisors can help with understanding entitlements, helping people overcome digital literacy and language barriers, form-filling help, and appealing DWP decisions. More people need this support now as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.
Employment issues
The cost-of-living crisis has meant that many people have been forced to find work or work longer hours in order to improve their income. And yet employers are facing rising supply and energy costs. Even major businesses such as Wetherspoons announced in October 2022 that they would need to sell off 32 pubs to cope with the increasing costs. In May 2022 it was reported that 1 in 5 bosses were planning mass dismissals. In July 2022 the Co-op announced 400 jobs will be cut at their Manchester head office. Employees affected need advice regarding redundancy/dismissal rights and benefit entitlements. Those planning to take industrial action for higher pay or to oppose redundancies need support to understand and enforce their rights.
A debt crisis
Due to rising costs, the amount of personal debt in the UK has increased by £69.4 billion in the last year. Unaffordable money lending, in the form of short-term, high-cost credit for example, booms in times of crisis, and results in people needing help to understand their rights around bailiffs, debt collectors and complaints to the Financial Ombudsman or regulators. Utilities debts and council tax can end up going unpaid, leaving people at risk of disconnection and CCJs, which in turn affect people’s ability to find a place to live, and to obtain further credit. Without support, spiralling debt can result in serious material and mental health problems. Debt generally only worsens the longer it’s left, so those in debt urgently need professional help to negotiate manageable agreements with creditors to get out of debt, or to challenge unenforceable or unaffordable debts.
Lack of funding for legal advice centres
The government cuts to legal aid have resulted in many free advice providers closing. Many others that have stayed open have been unable to fund much-needed job roles, or pay for professional training for staff. Some legal advice providers have found themselves reliant on volunteers, who do brilliant work, but often require additional training or support or cannot stay in-post long-term due to their own financial needs. With less paid and voluntary staff, legal advice centres and legal aid firms are stretched to find the numbers to do the necessary work, and people in dire need of help face potentially detrimental delays or an inability to find any advice at all.
Case studies show the need for early, accurate advice
In the annual report in November 2021, GMLC provided an example of the significance delays in providing accurate legal advice can cause:
Steven had his Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) suspended as he hadn’t understood the capital rules. He had been given incorrect advice as to what information he had to supply and his ESA had remained suspended for about 18 months before it came to our attention. We (GMLC) identified the problem and helped him to gather what he actually needed to provide – but that left Jobcentre Plus a huge job to calculate what he owed them and, in turn, what they owed him. During the Covid staffing restrictions, this was unlikely to get sorted without a bit of pressure, so one of our volunteers escalated a complaint about the delay and the hardship it was causing Steven, and he received £11k in arrears payments, amounting to an annual gain of £21k.
What can policy-makers do?
- Scotland recently introduced a rent cap and a freeze on evictions to ensure tenants can get through the current crisis without as much risk of homelessness. The rest of the UK could look to follow in order to prevent continually escalating rents and evictions.
- Section 21 and all mandatory grounds must be scrapped to avoid an explosion of homelessness as tenants are evicted and cannot find affordable housing for themselves.
- Housing benefit must be raised in line with rising rents.
- Benefits must rise at least in line with inflation, with a view to re-evaluating Universal Credit in the long term to replace it with a better, fairer social security system.
- The government must act on the Justice Committee’s report and overhaul the legal aid system. They must strive to broaden the availability of legal aid rather than rather than continuing to narrow scope and limit eligibility.
- 46% of the British public do not understand the legal aid system and do not know how to receive support. Policy makers must make information on legal aid more widely known and accessible.
- Legal aid cuts disproportionately affect those on lower incomes, people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, and women. 72% of legal aid clients are from BAME backgrounds and more than 60% of clients are women. Policy makers must address the impacts lack of access to justice make on these communities and redesign policies to stop exacerbating existing inequalities.
- Policy makers should oppose laws that would limit organising in trade unions or striking for higher pay, as this is a basic workers’ right and workers need higher wages more than ever during the cost-of-living crisis.
What does Greater Manchester Law Centre do?
- GMLC will continue to challenge harmful legislation and policy to fight for widening free access to justice.
- We offer phone or face-to-face help with enquiries in employment, benefits and housing law, and hold legal advice clinics across Greater Manchester.
- We produce legal guidance resources for people and organisations to use in their own or members’ cases.
- We support and train aspiring social welfare lawyers and advice workers.
- We work with campaign groups, unions and community organisations to increase people’s knowledge of their rights. We support their protests, actions and campaigns to uphold and improve people’s legal rights in the legal areas we cover.
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If you are experiencing a legal issue with your housing, employment or benefits, you can contact GMLC by calling us on 0161 769 2244 or emailing reception@gmlaw.org.uk.
Photo credit: Steve Eason, Flickr, 2022. Protesters rally against the cost-of-living crisis, rising food bank usage, and support the strikes sweeping the UK.
