How to get Exceptional Case Funding for immigration cases

This guide is intended to assist legal aid providers in determining the cases where it might be appropriate to apply for Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) for immigration proceedings, and to assist providers in making successful applications for ECF. Download here

LASPO briefing: Public Law Project Litigation

The Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), and the subsequent secondary legislation, significantly changed the way that civil legal aid operates. Changes were made not only to the scope of legal aid, but also to the procedures and processes that clients and lawyers had to follow in order to access funding

The effects of LASPO on civil legal aid in Wales

This research briefing explores effects of the LASPO reforms on civil legal aid provision in Wales. It draws on Welsh and UK Government statistics and reports; publications by legal professional bodies, Parliamentary Committees, Independent Commissions and the voluntary sector; academic sources; informal consultations with solicitors and advice charities. Download here

Guy's hospital

Commissioning: Understanding and using the law for smaller organisations

Commissioning and procurement is how government and public bodies (whether they be the NHS, a local council or a government department) make contracts with others to provide services. This could be a one-off contract to build a new road, or to provide long-term healthcare for a town, and anything in between. Commissioning has become more

Exceptional Case Funding Briefing

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) limited the availability of civil legal aid, removing large areas of law from within scope of legal aid. In response to concerns about LASPO, the government included a provision for funding to be made available in certain cases, which would otherwise be outside of

The Civil Legal Advice Telephone Gateway

This briefing paper provides an overview of the PLP research report ‘Keys to the Gateway: an Independent Review of the Mandatory Civil Legal Advice Gateway.’ The introduction of the mandatory CLA Gateway for Debt, Discrimination, and Special Educational Needs marked a major shift in the delivery of publicly funded legal advice. This briefing looks at

Legal aid and access to early advice

The overview provided in this briefing paper identifies five key issues relating to the availability of early legal advice, which arise from the reforms to civil legal aid made by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).  This briefing paper reviews existing research conducted by other organisations that documents how the

Financial Barriers to Accessing Judicial Review: An Initial Assessment

In England and Wales, questions of money and finance have become more important in the discussion around judicial review in recent years. On the claimant side, there are widespread access to justice concerns relating ot the costs of bringing a judicial review. On the government side, there has been a view taken – which has

European (Withdrawal) Bill – Briefing for the House of Lords Report

Ahead of the Report Stage of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill in the House of Lords, Wednesday 18th April 2018, PLP has prepared a briefing paper for Peers highlighting our key concerns with the Bill. PLP takes no position on the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. Our work around the EU (Withdrawal) Bill is

Literature Review on the Use and Impact of Litigation

The issue of how and when legal intervention is best used in system change is one that has received little attention in the UK previously. Yet assumptions are made by those who use the law as to how effective legal tools are in successfully challenging unfair systems. Here we are publishing a literature review on the use and

Family Law and Access to Legal Aid

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) significantly limited the availability of legal aid in civil and family law. Whilst public law family cases remained in the scope of legal aid under LASPO, most private family law matters became ineligible for legal aid, with the exception of funding for some victims

Research Strategy 2020

This document sets out an initial research strategy for PLP, to operate from 2018 to 2020. The context of this strategy is PLP’s overarching strategic plan, and the organisation’s agreed priorities and goals for the period. In addition, a key aim this initial period is to confirm the PLP’s identity as a producer of high-quality,