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Legal Aid and Sentencing of Offenders Bill

April 21, 2012 11:15 AM

The Lords amendments came back to the Commons in the last week of the Legal Aid and Sentencing of Offenders Bill, a piece of legislation with controversial sections.

A welcome change which local MP Simon Hughes has argued for is the proposal to prevent scrap metal being bought for cash, with unlimited fines for offenders. This was agreed this week, and will now become law very soon. As a result of Liberal Democrat efforts we have also seen extensions to the availability of legal aid in domestic violence cases and for appeals raising any matters of law in benefits and welfare cases.

Commenting, Simon Hughes MP said "I am still arguing for changes to the current plans which still require all initial legal aid applications to be made by telephone, and for legal aid to available in immigration cases where the individual wins their case in the tribunal but the government then appeals again. I am working to win some further concessions before the bill becomes law and will report back in the next week or two."

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