When legal issues go unresolved, they can lead to a range of serious problems, including financial hardship, declining mental and physical health, and emotional stress. These issues can quickly spiral out of control, especially for people dealing with multiple legal challenges at once.
In addition to legal aid cuts, austerity measures—particularly welfare reforms—have disproportionately affected vulnerable groups, especially disabled people. Local agencies and support services are under increased pressure due to reduced local authority budgets and other austerity-driven reforms.
The cuts have had a significant effect across all areas of law. For example, welfare rights cases dropped from 135,000 annually before the cuts to just 400 today. This drastic reduction means fewer people can access the help they need. The third sector (including organisations like Citizens Advice and the Law Centres Network) and private law firms have also been hit hard. Reduced funding has resulted in fewer caseworkers to represent clients; less capacity to offer early legal advice; and a loss of skills within legal support organisations.
Research funded by Liverpool City Council, led by Dr James Organ and Dr Jennifer Sigafoos, aims to mitigate some of the worst impacts of the legal aid and austerity reforms by increasing the effectiveness of remaining services through a stronger referral network in Liverpool and identify the issues that the reforms have caused. The resources and knowledge shared and developed will improve access to justice, help build a more sustainable legal advice network in Liverpool, and ensure that decisions relating to access to justice in Liverpool are made with a strong evidence-base to maximise resources, impact, and innovation. This project will run August 2019 - October 2024.
Liverpool Access to Advice Network
Liverpool Access to Advice Network (LATAN) was formed in 2020 as part of this research, funded by Liverpool City Council, University of Liverpool, and Citizens Advice Liverpool. By working in partnership and developing a thriving community of practice, LATAN has developed into a strong evidence-led network that is creating new ways of working together in the Liverpool advice sector.
LATAN now has over 100 voluntary and community sector organisation members. An important strategic objective for LATAN members is the implementation of an Access to Advice Strategy by Liverpool City Council for the first time, to improve the advice ecosystem and people’s paths to advice and justice.
This research has demonstrated the value of free legal advice in levelling-up people’s life chances and mitigating some of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. A clear, cross-cutting access to advice strategy at a local authority level will transform social justice in Liverpool, and help address some of the most pressing social challenges in the city, such as homelessness, food insecurity and health inequalities.
Dr James Organ, Dr Jennifer Sigafoos (Liverpool Law School) and Dr Sophie Wickham (Institute of Population Health) were awarded the 2023 Annual Impact Prize from the Socio-Legal Studies Association for their work on 'Liverpool Access to Advice Network: No Wrong Door, Free Legal Advice for all'.
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Theatre informed policy-making: Co-creating Liverpool's first free legal advice policy
Follow-on-funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is set to support the implementation of a Liverpool Access to Advice strategy in Liverpool and its city region. Bringing together people with direct lived experience, LATAN members, and decision-makers, the research aims to give voice to those most in need of free legal advice.
Through arts-based methods, those impacted by will present their lived understanding of the issues related to free legal advice provision to service providers and policy makers. This visual representation will act as an accessible resource to understanding the impacts of the legal aid and austerity reforms, demonstrating the value of arts-based methods in participatory policy making. This project will run September 2024 - July 2025.
Successful outputs of this research will link to the implementation of a Liverpool Access to Advice strategy, which recognises the important cross-cutting role of free legal advice in achieving Liverpool City Council’s strategic goals of social justice and the reduction of societal inequalities.
The implementation of the strategy will lead to more sustainable voluntary and community sector organisations, better delivery of Liverpool City Council projects targeting social justice, and improved living conditions for people in Liverpool.
This research supports the advancement of several UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).
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