3.5 million people live in areas with no active provider of civil legal aid

Legal aid provision for civil cases in England and Wales has contracted substantially since the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, according to new IFS research funded by the Nuffield Foundation and undertaken as part of IFS’s ‘Transforming Justice’ programme. By 2024, civil legal aid case volumes had fallen by around 57% compared with pre-reform levels, while associated expenditure had fallen by nearly 15% after adjusting for inflation. 

Civil legal aid is government-funded support towards legal costs, aimed at ensuring that people who could not otherwise afford legal advice or representation are still able to access the justice system in relation to non-criminal legal issues, subject to eligibility rules. Examples include disputes related to family matters, housing, welfare, debt, immigration and asylum, mental health, and community care. 

The new report highlights how the falling number of providers has impacted access to civil legal aid: 

• The number of activecivil legal aid providers (those that complete at least one civil legal aid case per quarter) halved, from roughly 3,000 in 2010 to around 1,400 by 2024. Over the same period, access to civil legal aid has become increasingly uneven across the country.
• The share of local authorities with no civil legal aid provider increased from 1.6% in 2010 to 11.9% by the end of 2023 – a total of 38 local authorities. This means that around 3.5 million people live in local authorities in England and Wales without an active civil legal aid provider. 
• These areas can be found across the country and tend to be rural or semi-rural and less deprived, with smaller populations on average, than other local authorities. Lower levels of provision in these areas likely partly reflect lower levels of eligibility and demand.

The absence of a local civil legal aid provider does not automatically mean that people in these areas have high unmet need, or that they cannot access legal aid elsewhere. But the decline in local provision may still create barriers for eligible individuals, particularly those who face difficulties travelling, using remote advice or navigating the legal system without local support. Wider research has linked reduced access to legal assistance with adverse outcomes – for example, higher eviction rates.

Magdalena Domínguez, a Senior Research Economist at IFS and an author of the report, said:

‘Civil legal aid provision has fallen sharply since the 2012 reforms, which intentionally restricted eligibility for civil legal aid. Notably, the number of providers has declined substantially. These changes have not affected all areas in the same way. A growing number of local authority areas now have no active civil legal aid provider at all.

‘This matters because civil legal aid depends on there being providers willing and able to do this work. Even where overall demand is lower, the loss of local provision may make it harder for some eligible people to get help when they need it.’

Rob Street, Director of Justice at the Nuffield Foundation, said:

‘This analysis adds weight to the evidence on the erosion of legal aid over the last two decades. Civil legal aid – originally intended to enable people of modest means to access legal services they couldn’t otherwise afford – is important for access to justice. But tighter rules around who qualifies and what’s covered mean many people are no longer eligible, even when they have serious legal difficulties. The problem is now compounded by significantly fewer legal aid providers, adding further barriers for people who need help.’