Supply of civil legal aid and advice and assistance
We have used the Board’s data on applications for civil legal aid and grants of civil advice and assistance (including assistance by way of representation – ABWOR) to develop our understanding of how solicitors provide civil legal assistance and to identify areas that may pose access to justice concerns.
Our analysis compared applicant addresses with outlet location (firms or firm branches making at least one application or grant in any given year), breaking down the data to different areas of law, allowing comparison between areas and over time.
The information here represents the best data currently available to identify areas where there may be access to justice issues, but it does not directly lead to information about the level of unmet need for legal advice. The main limitation of the data is that it is difficult to distinguish between a situation where there is a lack of supply because there is no advice need; and circumstances where low levels of applications are caused by the lack of supply.
The latest data analysed here is for financial year 2008/09. Internal monitoring has shown that there has been significant change since the end of March 2009, with the general year-on-year rise reported in these results becoming more rapid. Financial eligibility for civil legal aid was also extended on 7 April 2009. Previous research for 2007/08 is available in the research archive.
More information from and about the project is available from John Osborne. |
