‘Where will we go if Birmingham Law Centre closes?’
Local man, Nigel Simons, fears closure of Birmingham Law Centre would have left his elderly mother languishing in hospital without access to services that kept her in her home.
Last year, Nigel’s mother suffered a broken femur that needed surgery. She also has severe osteoporosis. After spending many months recuperating in hospital, Mrs Simons was told she would be discharged. However, she was too scared to leave as she didn’t know how she would be able to look after herself at home. In desperation, Nigel turned to local advice charity, Birmingham Law Centre, who were able to advise him on what help his mother could get from social services. As a result, Mrs Simons is now living back at home and has carers coming in four times a day.
‘I was so relieved when the law centre told me that my mother could have some help at home,’ said Nigel. ‘The hospital were desperate to get her to leave and she was just too frightened to go home on her own. She had nowhere else to go. The law centre very quickly helped sort things out.’
Unfortunately, government cuts to legal aid will soon mean a massive reduction in income for Birmingham Law Centre. Without much needed funding from the local authority, the law centre is in a worse position than almost all other law centres around the country. For both of these reasons, the law centre is facing imminent closure.
This means that 2000 Birmingham citizens per year will lose out on the kind of legal advice that could keep them in their home, help them appeal complex benefits decisions or access help from social services. The law centre also advises people in debt or who have lost their job and this advice is always free.
Legal adviser at the law centre, Michael Bates, said, ‘we were able to advise Nigel’s mother because she qualifies for legal aid. Contacting Birmingham City Council to make sure the right care package was in place is something we do on a regular basis. But with the law centre facing closure, who will vulnerable clients such as Mrs Simons turn to?’