Disability Advice Services Facing a Post-election “double whammy”
DLS were commissioned by the Community Legal Service to conduct a research exercise into the provision of legal advice to Disabled people in Wales.
The findings indicate that Disabled people are struggling to access advice and legal services, and any further future cuts to advice services will only make the situation worse.
“One Stop, Many Shops: joined-up disability advice for Wales” was launched in the National Assembly on Monday March 22nd, with the support of Paul Davies A.M. (Preseli Pembrokeshire).
The report highlights a range of problems faced by disabled people seeking advice in Wales, including:
- Variable provision of advice services across Wales.
- National shortage of lawyers with an experience in disability issues.
- Lack of co-ordination between agencies: disabled people having to re-repeat their case histories.
- Private legal services often unaffordable for disabled people who cannot get Legal Aid.
Carwyn Fowler, DLS Development Officer for Wales and author of the report believes “The ‘double whammy'' is a good way of summing up the situation facing advice services in Wales.
“More people are seeking advice as a result of the 2009 recession. However, advice services are likely to witness major financial cuts in the years after the General Election.”
“Non-statutory advice services are probably more of a ‘frontline’ service than the NHS or social services, in that they can prevent people from having to access the latter, statutory services. Politicians of all parties would do well to heed this message.”
A PDF version is downloadable below, if you requre alternative formats (for example large print, audio) please do not hesitate to contact us at info@dls.org.uk
Download: “One Stop, Many Shops: joined-up disability advice for Wales”
If you would like to comment or provide feeback on this report, please don't hesitate to contact wales@dls.org.uk
