Changes to legal aid for special guardianship orders and private family law proceedings "do not go far enough"

Changes that have extended legal aid to family and friends applying to look after a vulnerable child do not go far enough, the Law Society has said.

It said special guardianship orders (SGO) allowed relations or family friends to care for a child who cannot be raised by their parents, so keeping them out of the care system.

From 1 May people seeking and responding to special guardianship had been eligible for legal aid in private family law proceedings.

But Law Society vice president Nick Emmerson said: “We’ve long argued for legal aid to be extended to SGOs but unfortunately the changes don’t go far enough. We believe legal aid for special guardians should be non-means tested.”

Mr Emmerson said many special guardians are grandparents, “who may fall through the justice gap as they are excluded from legal aid by the capital in their home” even though their income might not permit them to meet legal costs.

“It is better for the child and better financially for the public purse if an SGO can be arranged and making legal aid for special guardians non-means tested would help achieve this,” he said.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Kinship Care’s said in 2022 that lack of legal aid and advice undermined kinship care, and the Law Society supported its call for non-means tested free legal advice for kinship carers.

Mark Smulian