Access to legal advice in the asylum accommodation estate
ILPA’s Legal Director requested a meeting to discuss how access to legal advice is being facilitated across the asylum accommodation estate, including at the former MoD barracks. We asked for the Law Society to also be invited and we have had two meetings in January. Some small improvements have been made, for example Migrant Help have amended the poster they put up at Penally to say that it is possible to access free legal advice. However, the wider problems remain, for example that Penally is a two hour drive each way from most law firms in Wales (there is one which is an hour and 15 minutes’ drive either way). We have been given assurances about suitable space and facilities being made available and continue to monitor the situation. We also continue to push the Home Office to disclose the agreement that lawyers have been made to sign when visiting the sites, which apparently contains reference to the Official Secrets Act, however the Home Office has said that it is a standard GDPR form.