Community care – legal aid deserts
We analysed data from the Legal Aid Agency directory of providers (October 2023) and the Office of National Statistics (2022) and found that in England and Wales:
- 70.8% of the population, or over 42 million people, do not have access to a community care legal aid provider
- only around 14.9% of the population have access to more than a single legal aid provider in their local authority area
Click on your local authority to find out how many community care legal aid providers there are:
Find out how the civil legal aid review may impact community care
We analysed data from the Legal Aid Agency directory of providers (April 2022) and the Office of National Statistics (2022) and found that in England and Wales:
- 68% of the population, or over 40 million people, do not have access to a community care legal aid provider
- only around 16% of the population have access to more than a single legal aid provider in their local authority area
Through analysis of data from the Legal Aid Agency directory of providers (September 2019) and the Office of National Statistics (2017) we found that in 2019:
- more than 37 million people in England and Wales were living in a local authority area without a single community care legal aid provider, including over 7.5 million people aged 65 and over
- 78% of local authorities in England and Wales did not have a single community care legal aid provider
Looking for legal advice?
The Law Society does not provide legal advice. If you're looking for help with paying legal costs, our page for the public can help.
Find out about help with paying legal costs