Administration of justice
The Access to Justice Foundation: the first ten years
As the Access to Justice Foundation turns ten years old, we are taking the opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and make plans for the years ahead.
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How we help
We make grants to organisations that help people with their legal problems. Since we were set up, this has become even more important following the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and the impact of austerity starts to bite.
Recent funding cuts mean that those in welfare benefit and family disputes, people in need of help sorting out debt demands, and individuals who have housing problems cannot get the legal help that they need. Free legal advice centres try to bridge this gap by helping those who cannot afford a lawyer by providing solutions without charge. But this is a difficult task, and we can only help a fraction of the organisations that approach us for funds.
Since 2008, we have funded life-changing legal help for thousands of vulnerable people. One of these was a particularly harrowing case involving a single mother, who had been made homeless and then placed into shared housing with other homeless people. Her housemates suffered from severe behavioural problems, heavy drug addiction, and regularly exhibited erratic and abusive behaviour towards the mother and her son. One evening, she came home to find that her belongings were in disarray and believed that her flat had been broken into. In fact, one of her housemates had broken the window. Upon discovering that she had called the police, the flatmate physically threatened the client and her son. As a result, the local Law Centre ensured that she had access to safe accommodation for herself and her son. Advice agencies and Law Centres tell us that not only is demand for services increasing year on year, but the problems that people are presenting with are more complex (for example, see case study 1 below).
CASE STUDY 1
Mrs D sought advice in order to challenge a medical assessment after making a claim for Employment and Support Allowance. Following the assessment, she was found to be fit for work despite suffering from depression, heart problems and osteoarthritis. In between lodging her appeal and the hearing, Mrs D became so ill that she was admitted to the intensive care unit of her local hospital. Despite this, the Department for Work and Pensions did not change its decision. Her local Law Centre helped Mrs D to obtain supportive medical evidence of her many conditions and represented her at the appeal hearing. The tribunal allowed her appeal, which meant she had enough money to live on.
People need help with a whole range of issues, including housing, immigration, access to benefits, health and social care, and employment. Often, people need help with a range of these issues, and access to specialist services is getting increasingly difficult (for example, see case study 2).