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In their report published this week, Professor Graham Cookson, an economist, and his fellow academic Dr Freda Mold, review the evidence on the economic benefits of advice in social welfare law matters. They conclude that,“legal aid not only pays for itself, but also makes a significant contribution to households, local economies and reducing public expenditure.”
Cookson and Mold studied all the available UK and international research on the impact of legal advice services in poverty law or, social welfare law (SWL) as it is know in as in the UK, (Poverty Law and SWL refers to areas of civil law such as housing, employment and welfare benefits, which commonly affect low income households). Cuts introduced by the government in April last year reduced legal aid completely or substantially in most areas of SWL.
In England and Wales the researchers found that for every pound invested in advice the state saves between £2 and over £9 in other expenditure. For example, research carried out by the think tank the New Economics Foundation on behalf of AdviceUK, the network of independent advice agencies, estimated a social return on investment of over 1:9 in housing and debt cases. A study by Citizens Advice, the advice services charity, showed that a £1 invested in benefits advice saved the state £8.80 in other costs.
Research across the world mirrors the findings of the studies undertaken in the UK. According to the report the US has the greatest body of evidence in this field. A study on the impact of legal aid expenditure in the US state of Nebraska concluded every dollar invested in legal aid led to a return of nearly four dollars. A similar study in New York found a return of 1:5, for investment in civil legal assistance, a $100m saving in costs to the state government.
The research was carried out on behalf of the Low Commission, the independent investigation into SWL services which was founded by LAG. Legal Action magazine, in its latest issue published this week, contains a pull-out summary of the research paper, “The business case for social welfare advice services.” The paper does express some concerns on data quality and the methodologies adopted by many of the studies, but found no research which indicated that there was no economic benefits accruing from investment in legal advice services.
It is clear from this academic research that the overwhelming weight of evidence points to significant economic benefits flowing from state investment in legal advice services. This is backed-up by the experience of practitioners in both private practice and the not for profit sector, who know that the provision of early advice to a client for example with a benefit problem, can prevent their difficulties escalating into eviction or other serious legal problems.
After the cuts of last year, many people in England and Wales, (Scotland has its own legal aid system), are in the position of having no recourse to state funded services in employment, benefits and other other common areas of civil law. With a general election less than a year away, LAG suggests that the social-economic benefits of state investment in legal advice services, is an issue the political parties cannot afford to ignore.