Government set to boost legal aid funding to tackle asylum appeal backlog

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The UK government is due to announce millions in extra funding for lawyers to represent asylum seekers in order to clear a backlog of appeals.

The backlog, ignited by a major shortage in lawyers, has led to delays in processing asylum claims, with each appeal taking an average of 46 weeks, according to The Times.

There were nearly 63,000 claims awaiting an outcome at the first-tier tribunal courts by the end of September, which is more than double the number from the previous year. In addition, figures obtained through freedom of information requests and government releases also revealed that more than 54,000 people seeking asylum or appealing against a refusal in England and Wales this year were unable to access a legal aid lawyer, representing 57% of the total.

The cuts to legal aid over the past decade have resulted in a shortage of lawyers willing to take on asylum cases. Fees for immigration and asylum legal cases have remained stagnant since 1996, and the number of law firms offering immigration and asylum legal aid services has decreased due to government funding cuts.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce a major increase in legal aid funding this week to encourage more law firms and lawyers to take on asylum cases.

Barrister and author of the Free Movement blog, Colin Yeo, said: “The cuts to legal aid over the last decade have so degraded the advice sector that there are simply too few lawyers left to take on cases. Without lawyers to help at court, everything takes longer, meaning that asylum seekers end up in hotels and accommodation longer than would otherwise be the case.”

Labour's manifesto has pledged to clear the backlog and end asylum hotels, with one government source saying that money for legal aid will be increased “above and beyond inflation to address the fact that it hasn’t kept up with inflation for years”.

However, experts are concerned about the shortage of qualified lawyers. The Refugee Council has warned that unless urgent action is taken, the backlog of appeals will continue to grow. Meanwhile, Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis, said: “The government needs to accept that a key part of sorting out the asylum backlog, to ensure a just and fair system, is to create a sustainable system in which to operate.

“Without it, we will continue to see many legal aid firms falling away, less representation for those who need it, bigger backlogs in the system, and a never-ending cycle of claims and appeals which cost the taxpayer more than any functional system ever could.”