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Public and Commercial Services Union
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Legal aid cuts are failing families and adding costs
Concerns raised by PCS that legal aid cuts would add costs to our justice system and wider public sector are supported by government auditors.
In a report published yesterday the National Audit Office says a 30% increase in family court cases where neither party has legal representation creates extra costs.
The union says its members who work in family courts have reported proceedings taking longer as unrepresented parties struggle to put their cases and judges have to spend more time trying to work out whether arguments have legal relevance.
The union says the cuts are failing families and particularly children, pointing out the Bar Council estimates 68,000 children a year are affected by the removal of legal aid for family contact and finance disputes.
The NAO report also says the use of mediation tog settle disputes has fallen by 56%, despite the government planning for it to increase under the chanes to legal aid.
This is because lawyers are less likely to be on hand to refer people to mediation and means more court time and money is being wasted.
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