Shelter has conceded that it is likely to close the eight branches that are under threat as a result of severe cuts to legal aid funding in England.
The homelessness charity recently opened a consultation with staff to examine options for the future in light of the huge funding hole it is facing once the government’s cuts to the legal aid budget take effect. Shelter employs around 150 people under its legal services contracts and the funding cuts will reduce its legal aid funding for face-to-face advice services by around 50 per cent.
Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said that after the end of the consultation, Shelter decided not to bid for legal aid contracts in these eight areas from April 2013, “as it is simply no longer viable for us to do so”.
He said: “Following the conclusion of this consultation with staff we have decided legal aid contracts are, or would be in the future, a vital source of funding for these services so this will clearly have a significant impact on them. We will be consulting staff on the future of their service, but it is likely we will have to propose closures.”
Robb admitted that job losses would likely ensue. "Significant cuts to legal aid mean we have some difficult choices to make, and it is entirely possible that we will have to propose redundancies as a result of these cuts. In terms of how many posts could be at risk of redundancy, we are not in a position to answer this exactly at the moment. We will assess the position once we know the outcome of the LSC retender in January.
"We will be providing our employees and those who need help with their housing with the best possible support we can at this unsettling time."
Robb added that if the services do close, it will also be a massive blow to the people in the affected areas who will no longer be able to get face-to-face housing advice from Shelter.
Shelter had campaigned vigorously against the cuts to the legal aid budget but the government is determined to press ahead. Robb said that “now is the very worst time to be taking away the housing safety net that helps people stay in their homes”.
