Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Not Addressed
Exceptional Case Funding for immigration suffers severe provider capacity issues
Conclusion
The government also runs a separate Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme for legal aid, intended as a safety net to provide legal aid for people whose human rights would be breached without it.32 Immigration cases that are no longer within scope of legal aid may still be eligible for legal aid via this separate assessment process. Immigration cases account for two-thirds of applications to the ECF scheme but people still face challenges in finding a legal aid provider even once the funding is approved.33 The Public Law Project’s (PLPs) survey of immigration practitioners found that for every 16 referral attempts that were made across nine organisations, only one attempt was successful (83 out of 1,337 attempts). Submissions also highlighted that the reduced scope of legal aid means that those applying for support are often extremely vulnerable, for example they may include victims of modern slavery.34
Government Response Summary
The government response addresses a separate recommendation about access to legal aid for immigration matters and the ECF scheme, not the initial conclusion regarding challenges in finding a legal aid provider.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
3. PAC conclusion: 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. 3. PAC recommendation: 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. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Winter 2024 3.2 The LAA monitors the number of providers of immigration and asylum advice and their offices. It takes actions available to them when potential issues appear. For example, the LAA customer service team is working to support those direct applicants that may not yet have a legal aid provider to find one following a grant of Exceptional Case Funding (ECF). The government is also providing up to £1.4 million of funding for accreditation and reaccreditation of senior caseworkers to conduct immigration and asylum legal aid work. 3.3 The new government has decided not to proceed with the Rwanda migration partnership, but to bring forward a new border security, asylum, and immigration Bill. Notwithstanding, as per the response to recommendation one, MoJ will seek to commission research into what might be a viable methodology for monitoring demand, as well considering how we collect data on any challenges in finding a legal aid provider. This will include immigration and asylum issues. 3.4 MoJ has taken steps to assess whether the ECF scheme is the most efficient route for immigration cases. For example, the MoJ has recently undertaken targeted, further engagement with stakeholders in the sector to better understand the experience of providers and applicants to ECF and reviewing LAA data to better understand the types of immigration cases within the cohort of ECF grants. MoJ is now carefully considering the outcome of this stakeholder engagement and data review.