MP lobbies Justice Minister on Hull legal advice services

Hull North MP Diana Johnson will today (18 January) meet Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly to discuss the impact of Government policies on legal advice services in Hull.

Following the closure of Humberside Law Centre in 2005 Diana Johnson MP campaigned for a new legal advice service to be opened in Hull. The Community Legal Advice Centre (CLAC) opened in October 2008.

Since then the Hull CLAC has have given over 31,100 clients general advice on a range of issues, such as personal debt, employment and welfare. Over 17,000 CLAC clients have received specialist legal representation.

Now there are fears, expressed in recent months by the CLAC, Hull Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB) and local solicitors in Hull, that Government cuts to CLAC funding, through the Legal Services Commission, combined with changes to legal aid, could jeopardise the services provided by the CLAC.

For example, the proposed cuts would mean an 80% reduction in the number of domestic violence cases that Hull CLAC can take up.

Diana Johnson MP said: "Government cuts to legal aid and CLAC funding are a real threat to the future of legal advice services in Hull.

"With the tough times that Hull people have been going through in the economic downturn, there has never been a greater need for legal advice services in Hull. Over 31,000 local people have been helped by the Hull CLAC since it opened in 2008.

"Today I want to stress to the Justice Minister just how much Hull needs these legal advice services and the impact on many vulnerable people if CLAC services are lost."

Ends