Legal aid cuts mean poorest will be hit by double whammy

SCOTLAND'S poorest will take a double hit if the country's legal aid budget is cut, a leading lawyer has warned.

The Law Society of Scotland has predicted a rush of people made unemployed or losing benefits and struggling to pay their rent or mortgage as a result, requiring help to fight for what they are entitled to.

But it warns their last refuge - civil courts and tribunals - may be out of reach if legal aid is cut.

Scotland's legal aid bill currently totals 150 million a year. Like the majority of public sector budgets, it is facing potential cuts of up to 10 per cent next year, and 25 per cent over the next four years combined.

Mike Dailly, convener of the society's Access to Justice Committee, said: "People will need to be able to challenge the decisions of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to social services tribunal."

The DWP pays mortgage interest for people after they have been unemployed for 13 weeks, but plans to lower its rate from 6.08 per cent to the Bank of England's monthly average - 3.8 or 3.9 per cent.

Mr Dailly said: "In Scotland's big cities there's a high number of people with sub-prime mortgages, they will be above the Bank of England rates.

"This and other cuts in welfare spending will really hit people quite hard, leading to more evictions and more repossessions."

Shelter Scotland said it hoped lay advisers, such as Citizens Advice Scotland, with training in welfare and housing, would be able to step into the breach.

A spokesman for Shelter Scotland said: "We share the Law Society's concern about the threat to the legal aid budget. That's why it's important the Scottish Government does what it can to look at alternatives, such as lay advisers being introduced under the Home Owner and Debtor Protection Act."

A spokesman for Citizens Advice Scotland added: "There has been a steady increase in the numbers of people needing advice and help over the last few years. With less money around, advice and support services are being cut just at the time when people need them most."

Anne Begg, Labour MP for Aberdeen South and chairwoman of the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, said: "Cutting support for disabled people who are unable to work is plain cruel. I have had a stream of people coming to my surgeries worried about what the changes will mean for them."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We will listen to all representations as we bring forward budget proposals focused on protecting front line services and economic recovery."