POOR and vulnerable people in Lancaster and Morecambe could be denied legal support because of Government plans to reduce Legal Aid, claim local solicitors.

The Law Society believe the Government's Access to Justice Bill contains powers to arbitrarily restrict the public's choice of legal advice and the amount of help available for particular types of cases.

The Bill has been introduced to reduce the spiralling costs of Legal Aid but David Sharples, the Law Society's North West regional secretary, said: "The Legal Aid scheme is very much a local service. People in Lancaster with genuine legal problems, who pass the strict means test, currently have direct local access to solicitors under the current scheme. Legal Aid is no different from other services, such as health and social services. It is a safety net to help some of the most vulnerable in our communities in times of need."

Local branch secretary of the Law Society and legal aid practitioner, Andrea Brown, said she shared the widespread concerns about the future of Legal Aid.

"Every solicitor who does Legal Aid work knows of cases where people have been able to obtain compensation rightfully due to them only because of Legal Aid," she said.

"Changes already in the pipeline mean that the numbers of solicitors the Government allows to do legal aid work will be drastically reduced. The so-called Access to Justice Bill will deny the consumer even more choice. Through it, the Government will reduce the types of legal work for which legal aid is available and it will cap the money available to pay for Legal Aid. This will mean that Legal Aid will no longer be the citizen's right. Instead, whether Legal Aid is available will depend on an arbitrary budget."

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