Thresholds and Priorities Changed

The Lord Chancellor has announced that the thresholds for funding when legal aid ends on 31 March for personal injury cases has been lowered from £20,000 total costs to £15,000 for eligibility for ‘litigation support’ and from £5,000 total costs to £3,000 for ‘investigative support’. He has also announced that the Legal Services Commission should give top priority to child protection cases and cases where a client is at risk of losing his life or liberty, followed by other cases concerning the welfare of children; domestic violence cases; cases alleging serious wrongdoing or breaches of human rights by public bodies and ‘social welfare’ cases including housing proceedings and advice about employment rights, social security entitlements and debt.