The Law Society has warned that a proposed 15% increase in legal aid rates will not be enough to ensure that there are sufficient immigration lawyers to deal with the government’s controversial scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The Ministry of Justice launched a consultation on 27 June about increasing legal aid rates by 15% for immigration lawyers representing asylum seekers threatened with removal to Rwanda under new rules in the illegal migration bill.
However, Lubna Shuja, the Law Society’s president, said the pay rise would not deal with the shortage of immigration lawyers in the system.
“There is a severe lack of capacity in the asylum and immigration sector, with many asylum seekers dispersed to areas with no legal aid provision, and a growing asylum backlog,” she said. “The proposed fee increase alone, which will only be for those who have received a removal notice under the illegal migration bill, is not going to address this capacity crisis.”
Immigration lawyers have said that they share the Law Society’s concerns. They said that the work involved in representing asylum seekers facing removal to Rwanda would be both complex and intensive and that a 15% increase in the low rate of legal aid would not cover it.
At the moment the hourly rate for asylum work is approximately £52 in London and £47 outside London. If asylum seekers are unable to access legal advice the government’s removal notices could face challenges in the courts.
Duncan Lewis, the UK’s largest legal aid firm doing asylum and immigration work, which has thousands of asylum cases, has said that it may have to largely pull out of representing asylum seekers threatened with being sent to Rwanda because the proposed increase in legal aid rates is “unworkable”.
Jeremy Bloom, a solicitor and supervisor in the public law and immigration departments at Duncan Lewis, said: “We have already made it clear to the Ministry of Justice that the current legal aid system is unworkable, and that with regret, we will be unable to provide legal services to people facing removal under the illegal migration bill at anything like the scale that will be required.
“Drastic change is required to ensure access to justice for individuals affected by the bill and all others who require and are eligible for civil legal aid. The MoJ’s proposals do little more than fiddle around at the edges of a massive and ever-growing legal aid representation gap.”
James Elliott of Wilsons Solicitors, another leading immigration firm, said: “Any increase in legal aid rates is welcome but the 15% increase will not make any significant positive impact on our ability to provide legal work to this most vulnerable group. You can do the maths. Rates have not increased in 25 years.”
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Internal documents about the implementation of the illegal migration bill, obtained by the Guardian in May, state that ministers could face crippling legal action without a substantial increase in legal aid fees for lawyers who advise refugees.
A government spokesperson said: “Our illegal migration bill will change the law so people who come to the UK illegally can be promptly detained and removed. We are consulting with providers to make sure the sector can meet increased demand for legal advice, and that cases can be resolved swiftly and fairly, to ensure we are able to break the business model of the smuggling gangs and stop the boats.”
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