Asylum Aid’s statement on the increase in legal aid funding
We are delighted that the government has announced an increase in legal aid rates for immigration, which were last revised three decades ago.
The UK’s immigration and asylum systems are extremely complex and challenging to go through. Free legal advice is fundamental for people seeking protection to navigate those systems. But since 1996, there’s been no increase in funding. This has decimated the legal aid sector to such an extent that more than half of people seeking asylum or appealing a refusal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) were unable to secure legal aid representation in 2023-24. This means that over 50,000 people were left without access to a lawyer, denying them access to justice. Some may resort to paying private lawyers and may get into high levels of debt for services which are often substandard. This has knock-on implications on clearing the backlog of asylum cases.
Survivors of torture and trafficking in particular require individual assistance to access the asylum and trafficking systems. They need legal help to provide appropriate evidence, including medical documents, to substantiate their case. These cases are often uniquely complex, long running and costly, yet the rates of pay have remained stagnant for years and no longer cover the costs of providing a service. It means that taking on such complex cases is not viable or sustainable for many legal aid providers.
Those supporting people seeking protection have been calling for an increase in legal aid rates for years so that legal aid is sustainable, and providers can afford to continue this vital work. We welcome the government’s decision to act. But a 10% increase in hourly rate (as announced by the Ministry of Justice) is not close to inflationary, given that rates were last increased in 1996. Further changes are still needed, including re-introducing legal aid for areas of immigration law that were removed from scope following the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (including family reunion and applications based on Article 8 and statelessness), but this is a positive step towards ensuring access to justice for survivors.
Press contact: kennith.rosario@helenbamber.org or media@asylumaid.org.uk