1. The Unmet Legal Need in Lewisham
An analysis of residents’ access to timely and affordable legal advice
2 May 2019

2. Overview Background – Mind the Gap report with the Pro Bono APPG
A survey of MPs’ surgeries and existing socioeconomic data
Purpose of the report – independent review
Hogan Lovells

3. Methodology MPs’ Surgeries
5 MPs’ surgeries attended (November 17 to February 18)
103 appointments observed
Categorisation of problems as legal vs non-legal; sub-categorisation of legal issues
Qualitative discussions with caseworkers
Hogan Lovells

4. Methodology Analysis of Existing Data
Key socio-economic indicators identified in Ministry of Justice's Legal Problem Resolution Survey 2014 – as correlated with legal need
Analysis of prevalence of these socio- economic indicators in Lewisham vs England and Wales using existing data sets
Hogan Lovells

5. MPs’ surgeries – Legal vs non-legal issues
Frequency of legal and non-legal Issues
Definition of legal problem:
“one for which there might be a legal remedy”
No regard to the merits of the legal issue
Unweighted base: 115 issues
Hogan Lovells

6. MPs’ surgeries – Legal issues
Frequency of categories of legal issues
Hogan Lovells

7. MPs’ surgeries – Housing issues
Frequency of categories of housing issues
Unweighted base: 20 housing issues
Hogan Lovells

8. MPs’ surgeries – Housing issues
Caseworker testimony
A lack of housing and disrepair are among the major legal issues arising at surgeries. This is connected to a squeeze on affordable housing in the area.
The lack of readily accessible legal advice can mean that constituents lack information about their housing rights and struggle to challenge decisions.
Common issues:
Landlords’ obligations to repair
Evictions and homelessness
Challenging allocation and ranking decisions
Hogan Lovells

9. MPs’ surgeries – housing issues
Housing case study: Constituent A
Renting from housing association
8 year history of disrepair complaints: faulty boiler, leaking pipes, recurrent black mould and a failure to refurbish as promised
Mould affecting child’s health. Surveyors instructed; no repair action taken
Outcome: no legal referral; MP intervened by writing to the chief executive of the housing association to demand action.
Hogan Lovells

10. Socio-economic data – LPRS – Housing issues
Tenure and prevalence of reported legal problems
People in rented accommodation more likely to have experienced problems relating to:
the home they rent, especially renting from a private landlord (18% vs 15%)
personal debt, especially renting from a social landlord (14% vs 10%)
anti-social behaviour by neighbours, especially renting from a social landlord (15% vs 12%)
Unweighted base: 4,136
Hogan Lovells

11. Socio-economic data – Housing – Lewisham vs England and Wales
Tenure of households
Unweighted bases: 116,091 (Lewisham ); 23,366,044 (England and Wales)
Hogan Lovells

12. MPs’ surgeries Other key findings – immigration
Frequency of categories of asylum / immigration issues
Unweighted base: 23 asylum / immigration issues
Hogan Lovells

13. Socio-economic data Other key findings – further factors
Younger people experience more legal problems than older people, especially regarding rented accommodation
Lewisham's population is proportionately younger than that of England and Wales
Adults from black or minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to experience legal issues than white adults
Lewisham has a higher proportion of adults from these backgrounds than England and Wales
Single parent households are more likely to experience civil legal issues relating to money, debt and rented accommodation
There are significantly more single parent households in Lewisham than England and Wales
Hogan Lovells

14. MPs’ perspectives Vicky Foxcroft MP Ellie Reeves MP
"I am seeing more and more people coming to my surgeries and approaching my office for legal help. There is simply not the legal support we see in other boroughs in Lewisham, when someone needs specialist advice there is just nowhere to signpost constituents. Something desperately needs to change to give my constituents the effective legal representation they need"
"There's not nearly enough access to legal advice in Lewisham. There's no law centre, there's nowhere near enough legal aid, so if someone presents as a new case there is little we can do in terms of legal advice. More access to legal advice is desperately needed"
Vicky Foxcroft MP
Ellie Reeves MP
Hogan Lovells

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