Legal aid immigration advice

The East of England has nine legal aid immigration advice providers based in the region, none of which are in Suffolk and Norfolk. Some organisations are reporting ongoing difficulties when supporting asylum seekers to access a solicitor, particularly regarding the capacity of providers. A meeting in early March brought together groups from across the region and highlighted these issues to Dr Jo Wilding who is undertaking research for Refugee Action on mapping immigration advice across the UK.

Building on this and previous work, the Strategic Migration Partnership is carrying out a review to gather tangible evidence on whether the current provision of legal aid immigration advice for asylum seekers is meeting the need within the East of England. The SMP will be working with the Legal Aid Agency to take this work forward and would welcome any experience or insights in this area. Please contact [email protected] if you can contribute to this work.