Lammy: Sustainable footing for sector
The government has unveiled a grant of nearly £20m over two and a half years to back legal support charities.
Until the money kicks in next October, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will also continue to fund two existing programmes run by the Access to Justice Foundation.
The foundation will administer and manage the grant – which will run from October 2026 to March 2029 – for which organisations from across the advice sector will be invited to apply.
The two current legal support grant programmes – Improving Outcomes Through Legal Support (IOTLS) and Online Support and Advice – have been extended for another six months, until September 2026, ensuring the continued provision of services.
The IOTLS funding period originally ended on 31 March, having started on 1 July 2023, during which time 59 organisations based across England and Wales shared £10m – although 221 had applied, seeking £35m between them.
The Ministry of Justice then pledged £6m to keep both schemes running.
Deputy Prime Minister and justice secretary David Lammy said: “It is absolutely vital that those facing some of life’s most challenging situations – such as debt, eviction, family issues – are able to access the support they need.
“This funding will ensure that essential legal support and information is available to those who need it most and will put the sector on a sustainable footing, as part of our Plan for Change.”
Clare Carter, chief executive of the foundation, said it would run an open funding round next spring/summer.
“We aren’t able to share the specifics of that programme just yet, but it will focus on ensuring people get access to the legal help that they need, when they need it, so that problems around debt, housing, benefits etc do not escalate.
“We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the MoJ to build a more sustainable infrastructure for the delivery of free legal advice services.”
The MoJ said the government was “working closely with partners from across the sector to drive forward a long-term programme of work to improve the legal support system and make it more effective, efficient and sustainable”.
Meanwhile, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has invited the foundation to intervene in the collective settlement approval order hearing next month for the car delivery charges case. The final two defendants have just settled for £54m, taking the total compensation recovered to £93m.
The foundation is the prescribed charity for undistributed damages in collective actions and in September the CAT approved a £3.8m payment from unclaimed damages in the boundary fares claim against Stagecoach South West Trains.
It could also receive money from the Merricks settlement and the ruling in Kent v Apple, a £1.5bn collective action on behalf of around 36m UK iPhone and iPad users. In October, the foundation unveiled its strategy for dispensing grants from money received from collective actions.
Such a relief for an already stretched legal support sector trying to help women children and prevent debt and eviction. The legal support sector really does need secure, long term and better funding to avert work force attrition that plagues community seeking help. I hope that in 2026-27 the charity sector can offer a more stable service for those most in need and less one off advice when complex compounding issues thwart equality. My research and that of others shows earlier intervention works and adverts downstream cost and harm.