Recommendation 3

We are concerned about access to legal aid for immigration matters which often involve extremely vulnerable people, and the effectiveness of the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme for some of these cases. Organisations including the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association provided evidence to the Committee of a ‘supply crisis’ in the immigration and asylum legal aid market. People eligible for support are often unable to find a provider with capacity to take their case. Additionally, those applying for help via the ECF scheme, intended as a safety net to ensure an individuals’ human rights are protected, face several hurdles accessing support. MoJ acknowledges that a shortage of immigration and asylum legal aid providers in some areas is concerning. It is trying to address expected increases in demand due to the new Illegal Migration Act 2023 (IMA) by increasing fees for work related to the policy. However, this risks exacerbating access issues for other immigration cases where MoJ has not increased fees, as providers may prioritise higher paying work. MoJ is looking at whether the ECF scheme is the most efficient route for immigration cases given the high rate of approval of applications (87%) and the additional administrative burden for LAA. Recommendation 3: The Ministry of Justice should set out in its Treasury Minute response: • how it plans to monitor the impact of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 on the capacity of other areas of immigration advice and how it plans to respond where evidence suggests people are unable to access advice; and • details of its plans to assess whether the Exceptional Case Funding scheme is the most efficient route for immigration cases.