Improving the legal aid means test as living costs rise

Insight
22 Jul 2024
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Delayed implementation of improvements to the legal aid means test is making legal services completely unaffordable to millions of people on low incomes, according to research by Professor Donald Hirsch and Professor Matt Padley.

In 2018, we commissioned research by Professor Hirsch that showed the legal aid means test was preventing many families living in poverty from accessing justice.

This led the UK government to launch its means test review and propose changes that aim to make an estimated 5.5 million more people eligible for legal aid.

However, the previous government delayed implementation of the higher thresholds until 2026, with a phased implementation over four years.

The impact of delay

The delay means only individuals living in deep poverty – up to 80% below the minimum income standard (MIS) – will be eligible for full legal aid.

Many people living on incomes well below the minimum income standard are expected to contribute to their own legal costs, pricing them out of the legal help and advice they are entitled to.

By next year, a couple with two children will need to be surviving on just £41 a day (£1,234 a month) to qualify for full legal aid: 57% below the minimum income standard.

For a single person, it will be less than £9 a day (£268 a month), which is 81% below the minimum income standard.

These calculations exclude rent/mortgage payments, council tax and childcare costs.

The charts below show the monthly income available for those eligible for non-contributory legal aid:

To see the infographic about this topic, please refer to the live page.

Law Society president Nick Emmerson said:

“The fact those living in the very deepest poverty are the only ones left who are eligible for full legal aid shows just how drastically this vital support has been cut back over the past 20 years.

“Viewing those who are already living significantly below the minimum income standard as being well enough off to contribute to legal costs will only lead to a denial of justice for survivors of abuse denied the protection they need and for families vulnerable to illegal evictions from rogue landlords.

"In the king's speech, the government pledged to reduce homelessness and tackle violence against women and girls.

"These pledges simply cannot be fulfilled unless the recommendations of the means test review are urgently implemented.

"The government has an opportunity here to improve access to justice for millions by introducing changes that have already been agreed and budgeted for."

Restoring access to justice

Millions more people and families with children could qualify for free legal help in cases such as unfair eviction or domestic abuse if the UK government implements changes recommended by the means test review.

An inflation-adjusted launch of the reforms in 2025 would dramatically reduce the shortfalls in the incomes of people being denied legal aid based on the means test.

To see the infographic about this topic, please refer to the live page.

Professor Donald Hirsch, one of the report’s authors, said:

“The 2022 promise to update the legal aid means test to make millions more eligible has gone into reverse.

“The delays to these changes, combined with recent inflation, means instead that ever more people are being denied access to justice unless they pay for it with money they do not have.

“Going forward, it will be essential not just to implement the promised improvements but also to ensure inflation is properly taken into account when assessing whether people have enough money to cover legal costs on top of meeting their essential day-to-day needs.

“Higher prices need to be factored in, not just into the income thresholds implemented now, but also into a system for making future adjustments.

“Without such inflation-proofing, the system will fail to deliver on its promise to make justice affordable.”