STRUGGLING families and vulnerable people in Bradford may not be getting the legal representation they need after new figures revealed how funding cuts have affected Legal aid.

Legal aid has existed since 1949 to ensure those who cannot afford legal advice or representation can access the justice system in their time of need.

However, in Bradford, there are now eleven fewer providers than six years ago, and the figures show there were 11,127 claims for civil cases in 2011/12, but only 3,137 in the last year.

This has resulted in the amount of money being given to Legal aid providers, who provide representation on civil cases, such as clinical negligence, divorce or adoption, dropping by £792,897.

The average paid to each provider also decreased significantly.

In 2011/12, the average paid out was £387,966, but the money dropped to £227,476 five years later.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) heralded cuts to the provision of legal aid across the country.

It effectively removed legal aid from areas of civil law including family, employment, welfare benefits, housing, debt and clinical negligence matters.

For those areas where legal aid remained, LASPO removed automatic eligibility for those in receipt of means-tested benefits, and lowered the means test to qualify.

It has prompted a rise in people representing themselves in court as the Personal Support Unit has seen a five-fold increase in demand.

Steve Hynes, director of Legal Action Group, said: "For many people across the country getting help from a legal aid lawyer comes down to a postcode lottery which they are destined to lose.

"It is not like the NHS where there is an obligation to ensure there are people out there to provide a service, because it has mainly been procured in the private sector.

“If a family loses their home the problems spiral. They will have debt problems and the local authority may take their children into care."

Alice Livermore, a lawyer at Mind, added: "The impact of not being able to access legal aid can be devastating - problems with housing, debt and benefits can quickly spiral out of control and you could lose your house or get into serious debt. The Government changes to legal aid mean that you can no longer get early advice to deal with these types of problems.

Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Every person should have access to legal advice when they need it – that’s why the Legal Aid Agency keeps availability under constant review and takes urgent action whenever it has concerns.

"There are enough solicitors and barristers for criminal legal aid-funded cases across England and Wales and people can access legal aid advice via telephone for family, housing, and other issues for which legal aid is available as well as face to face.”