12th March 2013 update!
Please bear with us. We’re creating a new page structure for these pages and that includes moving all the information about the ‘Free Legal Advice in Crisis’ – one day conference to a page of its own – here.
Access to Advice organised this conference:
- to bring together everyone concerned with these matters locally, regionally and nationally.
- to share ideas and experience for campaigning for future publicly funded legal advice services.
Contributions and suggestions were welcome throughout the day.
The Conference themes.
- The Big Picture.
- Our Communities.
- Campaigns and tactics.
- Arguments for future free legal advice services.
The day was a mix of lead speakers, discussions and workshop sessions.
Lead Speakers.
- Steve Hynes, Director of the Legal Action Group
- Julie Bishop, Director of the Law Centres Network
- Lord Bach, leading the opposition to the legal aid cuts in the House of Lords spoke on the current situation, and ways to argue for and campaign about the need for publicly funded legal advice services.
Workshops.
Discussed particular consequences on the reduction of free legal advice, and lead discussions on future responses to advice needs for key groups and issues:
- Disability and Sickness.
- Housing, Employment and Unemployment.
- Migrants and BME Communities.
- Family and Debt.
When and Where
The conference was held on Saturday the 9th of February 2013 between 10am to 4pm at the Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester. M2 5NS.
You can download the conference poster here and see a video of Margaret Manning from Access 2 Advice talking briefly about what’s happening.
The full conference programme is available as well as a list of links to useful resources for the conference.
Post conference we’ll be adding bits as we go along. To be going on with here’s the workshop notes from Gareth Morgan. More videos and pictures will hopefully follow.
Here’s a video from the conference to whet your appetite but we’re now pleased to be able to bring to your attention our 4 page report of the conference as well as the in depth 16 page version.
G.M.W.R.A.G. 