Civil legal aid: the public service that can benefit us all

Legal aid is a vital public service, which ensures access to justice across England and Wales. But right now, due to the lack of investment in civil legal aid rates, the number of legal aid providers has severely diminished.

Without an immediate significant increase in civil legal aid rates, many people will be left without access to justice.

This final implications report suggests that reforms which improve the sustainability of civil legal aid could generate meaningful benefits for public finances, by reducing the burden on other public services and improving economic productivity, with a positive impact for us all.

Savings to the justice system

Investing in civil legal aid and making it more accessible can reduce costs for the wider justice system:

• helping courts be more efficient, by reducing the number of people representing themselves in court
• people will be able to access providers who have the capacity to take on their case, as they will be paid properly for their work
• allowing legal problems to be resolved earlier, without reaching court

Housing legal aid

All of us need a safe and stable home, meaning we all need access to housing advice when our homes are no longer healthy places to live in.

10% of all rental properties in the UK have significant disrepair issues, which is a major cost to the state. In England, houses in disrepair are estimated to cost the NHS £355 million each year.

More legal aid provision could significantly reduce NHS costs.

Where legal aid can overcome housing issues, a patient can be discharged from NHS facilities quicker, freeing up hospital beds and reducing bottlenecks in the healthcare system.

Our research found that if reforms to housing legal aid reduced significant housing disrepair by just 5%, the savings to the NHS could be more than £15 million each year.