Open letter to Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister

Ahead of the Legal Aid and Sentencing Provision of Offenders Bill's return to the House of Commons, an extraordinary coalition of charities and campaigning groups have joined forces to escalate their fears over another area of civil liberty - legal aid, right to the very heart of Government.

The charities have address an open letter directly to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, urging them to rethink their proposals for legal aid reform which will see thousands of vulnerable people denied justice.

Dear Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister,

Lords’ amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Bill

When you entered office in May 2010, you made a commitment that your Government would protect the most vulnerable. Yet you are now in danger of cutting legal aid for children, disabled people and victims of domestic violence.

We urge you to accept the sensible and considered amendments to the LASPO Bill made by the House of Lords, so that access to civil justice is protected for these vulnerable people.

Prime Minister, when you launched this Bill last year, you said: “If you heard of a way to make your policy better but you did nothing about it, that's not strength, that's not leadership. The tough, strong thing to do is to say yes, let's make this plan better."

Deputy Prime Minister, immediately before joining the Government in May 2010, you stated that a government containing Liberal Democrats would “usher in an era when the highest standards of evidence are seen as the baseline for judging policy-making.”

Yet your Government has up to now ignored the advice of an enormous range of academics, charities and legal experts, including representatives from all parties and the crossbenches in the House of Lords, who have provided evidence that the social costs of this Bill will be extremely significant, and the fiscal savings minimal or non-existent.

We are glad that the House of Lords have amended some parts of the Bill that were most likely to lead to unintended consequences and higher costs for taxpayers. These amendments combined have an upfront cost of only £24.7m which could be saved from elsewhere in the legal aid budget. Why, for example, is the Government penalising vulnerable people yet choosing not to recover legal aid from the frozen assets of rich criminals which could save £15m a year?

The Lords’ amendments are firmly grounded in the best available evidence and substantially improve the Bill. We believe they will make your Government’s legal aid policy better and we urge you to consider them with an open mind.

Yours sincerely

Peter Walsh, Chief Executive, Action against Medical Accidents

Stephen Remington, CEO, Action for Blind People

Richard Jenner, Director, Advice Services Alliance

Steve Johnson, Director, Advice UK

John Holmström, Assistant Chief Executive, Brighton Housing Trust

Alison Garnham, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group

Geraldine Blake, Chief Executive, Community Links

Liz Sayce, Chief Executive, Disability Rights UK

Anna Bird, Deputy Chief Executive, The Fawcett Society

Jacky Everard - Centre Director, Hastings Advice and Representation Centre

Terrence Stokes, CEO, Lasa

Julie Bishop, Chief Executive, Law Centres Federation

Paul Farmer, Chief Executive, Mind

Ms Farah Nazeer, Director of External Affairs, Motor Neurone Disease Association

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive, MS Society

Justine Roberts, CEO and Co-Founder, Mumsnet

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive, NAT (National Aids Trust)

Jamie Hewitt, Government Affairs Manager, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society

Emma Scott, Director, Rights of Women

Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive, Scope

Diana Fawcett, Director of Operations, Shelter

Rachel Maskell, National Officer, Unite

Barbara Rayment, Director, Youth Access