The Tory-led government is making further cuts to our public services. Now they are attacking the legal aid budget which guarantees that everyone has access to justice regardless of their ability to pay steep legal fees.

I spoke out in Parliament about these unfair cuts and their impact on services here in Wolverhampton. You can read the text of my speech on this issue here.

The government plans to remove legal aid for employment, housing, immigration, family law and welfare cases, which will mean that the most vulnerable in our society will not have access to justice. The cuts will particularly affect Wolverhampton’s Citizens Advice Bureau which provides legal advice on a wide range of issues, and relies heavily on legal aid funding.

It will take us back to the days when legal advice and access to justice were the preserve of those who could afford it. I have urged the government to think again.

The Citizens Advice Bureau in Wolverhampton provides great help to many of my constituents who have problems with debt, benefit and family law, and these cuts will prevent them from offering much of this advice.

In addition to legal aid cuts, the government have yet to decide whether to continue the Financial Inclusion Fund which provides money for 12 staff members at Wolverhampton CAB to provide face-to-face debt advice. The current Fund expires in March 2011. The government’s delay in making the announcement has meant that Wolverhampton CAB will no longer be able to take on new debt advice cases beyond January 2011. I have written to the Treasury Minister, Mark Hoban, urging him to continue support for this fund beyond March 2011. You can read my letter here.

10 January 2011