LAG has learnt that Streetwise Community Law Centre® based in the London borough of Bromley has decided to close due to funding problems.

 

The Law Centre specialised in social welfare law, providing a London-wide service for young people aged between 16 and 25. It was established 13 years ago and received cash support from a number of sources including London Councils and the Legal Aid Agency. Last year it was short-listed in the Law Society Excellence awards.

 

LAG understands from the Law Centres Network (LCN), the national organisation representing Law Centres, that while Streetwise was not technically insolvent, difficulties with funding meant the Law Centre was no longer financially viable. In a statement on its website, the director of the LCN, Julie Bishop, said, 'It was a Law Centre that could' and that it was 'a great loss to the Law Centre’s clients. It had an innovative approach that sought to address the specific needs of its client group. The fact that funding cuts are making such a service unsustainable means that central and local government are both effectively failing our young people, denying them a vital lifeline and exposing them to avoidable hardship and distress. This is a sad day for young people and a sad day for justice'.

 

Streetwise was an excellent service and it’s a great shame that the Centre’s Board of Trustees have been forced to close the charity. LAG believes funding cuts are stifling innovation in publicly funded legal services and it is vulnerable clients who are the greatest losers.