The only housing case granted ‘exceptional’ legal aid funding followed a threat of a High Court challenge
Inside housing revealed:
A law firm resorted to threatening judicial review to get funding from a government ‘safeguard’ fund for a schizophrenic tenant facing eviction.
The private tenant’s application is the only housing case out of 65 to be granted exceptional funding since the government reduced the range of cases eligible for legal aid on 1 April 2013. The Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 removed financial support for legal costs for most housing cases.
‘Exceptional case funding’, which was described by the government in September 2011 as ‘an essential safeguard’, is for cases that are out of scope of funding since LASPO cuts but are ‘deserving cases’.
The fact the only successful housing case so far followed a judicial review threat will fuel fears that the most vulnerable people are struggling to receive help.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Justice last month show that just 1.4 per cent of the 1,112 ECF applications made between April and December 2013 to the Legal Aid Agency – the Ministry of Justice body responsible for granting legal aid funding – were granted.
The successful housing application was brought by Platt Halpern solicitors on 3 July and was initially rejected. The law firm applied for judicial review funding on 5 August and the LAA granted the ECF on review two days later.
Carol Storer, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners’ Group, said: ‘There is an enormous gulf between the assurances given in parliament about ECF and the reality.’
A spokesperson for the LAA said the judicial review threat had no bearing on the outcome, but out of the 14 ECF cases granted funding, the LAA was threatened with judicial review in at least five of them. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘The system is working effectively.’