LSC says urgent files are being transfered from the collapsed Immigration Advisory Service
The Law Society Gazette reported yesterday that the Legal Services Commission (LSC) has begun the process of transferring of urgent files from the collapsed Immigration Advisory Service (IAS).
IAS is reported to have had a caseload of around 8,000 files when it went into administration.
According to the Law Society Gazette, the LSC received expressions of interest which indicated that current immigration providers had the capacity to take on 28,145 cases.
Meanwhile, Zrinka Bralo, executive director of the London-based Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum in London, told Reuters TrustLaw that the government's planned cuts to legal aid will severely disadvantage migrant and refugee women.
"Migrant and refugee women are disadvantaged because they may not speak English well enough, they do not know what support and protection is available to them, they may be traumatised and may not have support networks of family and friends," she explained.
According to TrustLaw, Bralo said the changes to the system will harm the community advice sector, creating confusion and complications that will leave vulnerable people in "advice limbo."
Sources:
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/lsc-transfers-cases-collapsed-immigration-advice-provider
http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/interview-uk-legal-cuts-to-hit-refugee-and-migrant-women-hard
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