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Latest News - June 2011

Legal Aid still available for children with special needs

At Maxwell Gillott, we have been spearheading a campaign to ensure that legal aid continues to provide advice and assistance for those on low incomes who are facing education law problems .

The Government has finally published its bill on reforming legal aid, and, as expected, it has removed large areas of law from the scheme. This will be devastating to many people on low incomes who will be fighting unfair dismissals from work, problems with their housing and disability benefits , and a whole host of other issues.

Under the original proposals, apart from criminal legal aid, only community care, homelessness, mental health, domestic violence and discrimination would have remained as suitable areas for the provision of legal advice and assistance .

However, we are delighted to see that almost the only area of general assistance work which has been saved is that relating to special needs. The Government in its response, has accepted that without legal aid cover for this, people would feel forced to bring claims for disability discrimination in order to put some pressure on the system. These claims would not only be more expensive to run, but would also cause considerable damage to the relationship between parents and their child’s school.

We remain concerned that issues such as exclusions from school will now be out of scope for general assistance and will be continuing our campaign to make sure that the most vulnerable people are protected. But at least for now, we are not facing the possibility of having to tell our most desperate clients that they will have to deal with the Special Needs Tribunal completely unaided and without any independent expert reports.

Elaine Maxwell has been invited to talk at the Autism Show, which takes place at London's Excel on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th June. She will be presenting a workshop on ensuring proper provision at a time of cuts, from 15.00 to 15.20 on Friday 24th, as well as running a series of 1:1 clinics for parents legal issues relating to education law and community care. You can book a session at one of these clinics directly from the show www.autismshow.co.uk

This promises to be a really useful event with speakers and clinics on a wide range of issues, including clinics on Trusts, Wills and the Court of Protection, run by David Ross, consultant with our parent company Simpson Millar, who is also a deputy in the Court of Protection

In the meantime, if you are concerned about the impact that cuts may be having on your child’s provision, don’t hesitate to call us on 01524 596080.

To find out more about how we can help you, please contact Maxwell Gillott Solicitors.