Public backs legal aid for child protection but not divorce

The public believes child protection should be the priority for civil legal aid funding but divorce-related work should come last.

The findings come in a survey of 1,000 people for the Legal Action Group, which will be released in full at its conference on social welfare law on Friday.

The government is expected to propose cutting legal aid from private law family work in its green paper, launched later this month.

After child protection, which 70 per cent believed should form part of the legal aid scheme, the most popular areas were housing (67 per cent) and employment (53 per cent).

Only 36 per cent backed welfare benefit and debt advice, while that figure dropped to a mere 17 per cent for divorce-related work.

More than eight out of ten people supported the principle of state funding for civil legal advice.

'Cuts in legal aid should not be reduced to a popularity contest between different areas of law,' Steve Hynes, director of LAG, said.

'We recognise that some categories of legal aid work such as prisoners' rights might not enjoy popular support, but are essential to guarantee civil liberties and to maintain the rule of law.

'What the results of the opinion polling research say loud and clear is that social welfare law services matter to the public and they believe it is fair for the government to pay for them. They are not an easy option for cuts.'