As a campaigning organisation of long-standing GMWRAG wholeheartedly supports and shares the aims of Access 2 Advice as their issues impact on all our members; their clients and potential clients. We’re not sure whether it’s “2″ or “To” yet but it doesn’t matter. Someone else can decide whether it’s the“People’s Front Of Judea” or the “Judean People’s Front”. What does matter is that you keep checking in on this page as these issues impact on us all.
Advice services are in crisis.
A threefold change is causing a crisis to the provision of free legal advice.
- Legal Aid is being cut in April 2013 for many areas of social welfare law, including housing, employment, benefits, debt and immigration.
- Many advice organisations, both in the voluntary and public sectors, are facing further funding cuts and reductions in their services.
- At the same time major changes have started to the welfare benefits system and a range of other social rights and will gather pace in the next two years.
These changes will cause severe hardship for a great many people, with the greatest impact on the most vulnerable groups. The cuts in advice services are coming at the worst possible time, as the need for advice massively increases.
‘Free Legal Advice in Crisis’ – one day conference.
Access to Advice is organising this conference:
- to bring together everyone concerned with these matters locally, regionally and nationally.
- to share ideas and experience for campaigning for future publicly funded legal advice services.
Your contributions and suggestions will be welcome throughout the day.
The Conference themes.
- The Big Picture.
- Our Communities.
- Campaigns and tactics.
- Arguments for future free legal advice services.
The day will be a mix of lead speakers, discussions and workshop sessions.
Lead Speakers.
- Steve Hynes, Director of the Legal Action Group
- Julie Bishop, Director of the Law Centres Network
- Lord Bach, leading the opposition to the legal aid cuts in the House of Lords will be speaking on the current situation, and ways to argue for and campaign about the need for publicly funded legal advice services.
Workshops.
Will discuss particular consequences on the reduction of free legal advice, and lead discussions on future responses to advice needs for key groups and issues:
- Disability and Sickness.
- Housing, Employment and Unemployment.
- Migrants and BME Communities.
- Family and Debt.
When and Where
The free conference will be held on Saturday the 9th of February 2013between 10am to 4pm at the Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester. M2 5NS.
The venue is accessible by wheelchair. If you have any particular advice needs, please let us know and we will endeavour to meet them.
Please book a place by emailing Access To Advice.
Please download a poster to circulate amongst your colleagues.
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