By Monidipa Fouzder >>
(8 June 2026)
The fragility of the civil legal aid sector has once again been laid bare, with the Legal Aid Agency needing housing and debt providers in 45 areas across England and Wales to ‘maintain strong coverage’. Meanwhile, research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed that 3.5 million people live in advice ‘deserts’.
The LAA issued an invitation last week for housing and debt providers in 45 areas ‘to strengthen access and availability’. The LAA said: ‘People use legal aid when dealing with housing and financial issues such as eviction, homelessness or unmanageable debt and creditor action. To maintain strong coverage, we need more organisations.’
Areas requiring more coverage include Bury, Middlesbrough, North and South Tyneside, Oldham, Stockport, Essex, Suffolk, Northamptonshire, Plymouth, Cornwall, Dorset, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and large parts of Wales.
Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a report revealing that the number of civil legal aid providers has more than halved in recent decades – from 3,000 in 2010 to around 1,400 by 2024. Some 3.5 million people live in local authorities without a legal aid provider.
The institute says residents might be able to access a legal aid provider in a neighbouring area, but the absence of a nearby provider still matters – some people will struggle to access advice remotely and areas such as housing would benefit from providers with local knowledge, relationships with other support services and contacts.
The research was funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The foundation’s director of justice, Rob Street, said: ‘This analysis adds weight to the evidence on the erosion of legal aid over the last two decades. Civil legal aid – originally intended to enable people of modest means to access legal services they couldn’t otherwise afford – is important for access to justice. But tighter rules around who qualifies and what’s covered mean many people are no longer eligible, even when they have serious legal difficulties. The problem is now compounded by significantly fewer legal aid providers, adding further barriers for people who need help.’
Legal aid ‘deserts’ were brought up during justice questions in the House of Commons last month. Justice secretary David Lammy said the government was working with the market ‘to mitigate localised pressures where they exist, by supporting a mix of face-to-face, telephone and remote advice provision’.
While the government has increased fees for housing and immigration lawyers, providers in nine other contracted categories of law, such as family, mental health and community care have yet to receive similar uplifts. Asked about mental health fees in the Commons, Lammy said this would be reviewed ‘closely in the next funding period’.
Research published by the Ministry of Justice revealed that government-funded legal support cash helped seven in 10 vulnerable people avoid court while eight in 10 of those who still needed to go court were better prepared.
(Courtesy: The Law Society Gazette)
