Skip to main content
Site logo

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
  • Meet your MP
  • Events
  • In Parliament
  • Craig's Business Grant Survey
  • Craig's Business Forum
  • Campaign Responses
  • Coronavirus Advice
  • Contact
Site logo

Legal Aid: Asylum and Immigration Cases

  • Tweet

Thank you for contacting me about legal aid in asylum and immigration cases.

The Ministry of Justice continues to make provision of £1.7 billion a year in legal aid generally and a new Legal Support Action Plan has been announced which will ensure resources are available for those who need it most. 

Measures in the action plan include a new focus on the individual and early intervention, as well as greater support for those who need solutions to problems before they become entangled in the legal system. The action plan will allow for an additional £3 million to support those representing themselves through the court system.

The Government continues to make a number of changes to legal aid, including undertaking a comprehensive review of the means test, improving and simplifying the exceptional case funding scheme, making face-to-face advice more readily available in a number of civil matters, and undertaking an awareness campaign for legal aid and legal support.

The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020: I understand your concerns regarding this issue. The Government has taken on board concerns expressed by those in the sector and decided not to replace the fee system for online asylum and immigration appeals. I believe this was the right thing to do while Ministers set out the next steps to ensure a fair and proportionate fee scheme for this area of work.

For immigration matters legal aid may be available through the Exceptional Case Funding scheme. This legal aid may be available in any case where failure to provide it would breach, or risk breaching, the European Convention on Human Rights or enforceable EU law, subject to the statutory means and merits tests.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Craig Whittaker MP

October 2020

Campaign Responses

  • Archived Campaign Responses
  • Sarah Everard and Violence against Women and Girls
  • Abortion: Disability-Selective Abortions (EDM 521)
  • Abortion: 'DIY' Abortions
  • Abortion and Foetal Pain: EDM 1340
  • Access to the Countryside
  • Aid: Girls in Crisis
  • Aid: Parliamentary Scrutiny
  • Aid Spending
  • Amazon
  • Animal Cruelty Sentencing
  • Animal Experiments: Update
  • Animals as Sentient Beings
  • Arthritis: 'Impossible to Ignore' (Versus Arthritis)
  • Assisted Suicide
  • Asylum Seekers and Refugees: Update
  • Badger Cull: Update
  • Beer and Alcohol Duty
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Brexit: Trade and Business
  • Brexit: Working Time Regulations
  • Build Back Better
  • Building Our Way Out (Shelter)
  • Cancer
  • Care Workers' Pay
  • Channel Crossings: Ending People Trafficking
  • Children's Well-being ('Good Childhood' Report)
  • China: Persecution of Uyghur Muslims
  • Cladding (McPartland and Lords' Amendments): Updated
  • Cleaner Air
  • Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill
  • Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act
  • Cycling and Walking: Update
  • Divorce Law Reform: Updated September 2020
  • Domestic Abuse Bill
  • Domestic Abuse: Migrants
  • Domestic Homicide
  • Domestic Abuse: Universal Credit
  • Duplicated Animal Tests (REACH)
  • Early Years Funding
  • Environment Bill (Updated)
  • E-scooters (Guide Dogs)
  • Evictions of Palestinians in Disputed Territories (EDM 529)
  • Export of Riot Control Equipment to the US
  • Fox Hunting
  • Fuel Duty and Prices
  • Gay Conversion Therapy
  • Gender Recognition Act: Update
  • Green and Fair Recovery
  • HS2 and the Environment
  • Heat Pumps (Updated)
  • Hedgehogs
  • Homelessness: Crisis and Centrepoint
  • Homelessness: Social Housing (Shelter)
  • Human Rights Defenders
  • IVF
  • Immigration: Detention, Visas and Other Issues
  • Immigration Health Charge
  • Immigration: Points-based System
  • Indian Farming Reforms
  • Israel: Military Courts and UK Arms Sales
  • Israel: Peace Agreements with Bahrain and the UAE
  • Jagtar Singh Johal
  • Legal Aid: Asylum and Immigration Cases
  • Local Electricity Bill
  • Local Housing Allowance/Shared Accommodatio Rate
  • Medical Cannabis
  • Misogyny and Violence Against Women and Girls
  • Modern Slavery
  • Neonicotinoids: Update
  • NHS Pay and Recruitment
  • NHS: 'Privatisation' and Centene
  • NHS Pay: Scotland
  • Ocean Protection
  • Off-payroll Working (IR35)
  • Pavement Parking
  • Peat Burning
  • Persecution of Christians (Open Doors)
  • Pig Husbandry
  • Planning for the Future: CPRE and Other Campaigns
  • Planning for the Future: Woodlands
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
  • Pregnancy and Maternity Redundancy Bill
  • Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Treaty and Trident
  • Proportional Property Tax
  • Radiotherapy 4 Life
  • Rail: Policy and Investment
  • Rape and the Criminal Justice System
  • Reception Baseline Assessment (Primary Schools)
  • School Breakfast Bill
  • Sea Blasts
  • Sewage (Inland Waters) Bill
  • Social Care
  • Social Care, Key Workers and the National Living Wage
  • Social Housing
  • Sunday Trading
  • Supertrawlers and Sustainable Fishing
  • Support for People with Terminal Illness
  • Trade Bill: Anti-genocide Amendment (Updated)
  • Trade Deals: Farming and Food Standards
  • Trade Deals: Food Standards
  • Trade Deals: NHS - New Clause 17 and Lords 11
  • Trade Deals: Parliamentary Scrutiny
  • Trophy Hunting Update
  • Transport Investment (#transformtransport)
  • Trespass (Right to Roam)
  • UK Internal Market Bill
  • UK Internal Market Bill: International Law
  • Visa-free Work Permits for Touring Artists
  • Wildlife Licensing
  • Yemen: Concerns about UK Aid
  • Yemen: UK Involvement (Updated)
  • Youth Services

Craig Whittaker MP MP for Calder Valley

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About Craig
  • Campaign Responses
  • In Parliament
Site logoThis website is funded by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) for the purpose of assisting Craig Whittaker MP in the performance of their Parliamentary duties.
Copyright 2021 Craig Whittaker MP MP for Calder Valley. All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree