Karl Turner responds to report from 90 children’s charities showing 6,000 children per year have been denied legal advice since 2013 legal aid cuts

Karl Turner MP, Labour’s Shadow Legal Aid Minister, responding to a report from 90 children’s charities showing at least 6,000 children per year have been denied legal advice since the 2013 legal aid cuts, said:

“The denial of legal aid to 6,000 children per year is disgraceful in a country which believes in fairness.

“These heart-breaking statistics show the contempt with which this government treats normal people in complex legal situations such as Special Educational Needs and Disability appeals.

“Warm words on the importance of legal aid from Ministers do nothing to address the huge personal cost for every child and family refused legal aid.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. A report has been produced by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), an umbrella body of 90 children’s charities, to mark Human Rights Day (10^thDecember) and for submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: http://crae.org.uk/media/129724/CRAE_LOIPR_09-DEC-20.pdf
2. It finds that since cuts to legal aid in the Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Act (2013), at least 6,000 children each year have been denied free legal advice and representation, while the figure could be as high as 15,000.
3. This affects SEND appeals, unlawful school exclusions, and care leavers and separated children in immigration cases once they turn 18.