It was pleasing to see Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum mentioned positively in a new London-wide report on advice and support for migrants but, sadly, most of the report makes the point that there is very little to be positive about overall, especially given the Government’s planned cuts in legal aid and local councils’ ongoing reductions in grant funding.

The positive stuff first. The Migrants’ Rights Network, working with REAP (Refugees in Effective and Active Partnership), has published a report on the current state of advice and support provision for migrants throughout the capital. It makes this comment: “Although Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre has been severely reduced, it still has an active Refugee Forum and CVS.” It’s nice to know that one’s efforts have been recognised.

But the rest of the report makes for grim reading. Surveying the scene across London as a whole it finds, not surprisingly, that advice services are experiencing simultaneous squeezes on funding from a number of directions, including individual council grants and those available through the umbrella body London Councils. This is leading to increased competition for what funding remains from trusts.

On commissioning, which is replacing grant aid in many cases, the report notes: “…small and specialist organisations find it hard to compete in the commissioning process being introduced by many local authorities.”  Partnership working and networking are increasingly sought by grant givers and commissioning bodies but, guess what? “Support for networking has been reduced. Lack of funding, particularly for inter-borough activities, is making networking increasingly difficult at the time it is most needed. There is not necessarily the time and energy to explore possibilities for partnerships when organisations are struggling to cover their basis costs.”

And last, but certainly not least, “Changes to legal aid will hit many high level advice providers, such as Law Centres.” This includes our own Hammersmith & Fulham Law Centre which has done such excellent work in the past but is already severely hampered by the loss of council grant and that is even before the legal aid restrictions hit.

At present the Ministry of Justice has announced that its plans to ‘reform’ (i.e. restrict) legal aid have been delayed by six months. This is good news but a temporary stay of execution is not what is needed. What is required is a decision that savings will be found elsewhere and not by denying access to justice by those most in need of it.

Phil Cooper 8/12/11