The Immigration Advisory Service (IAS), a leading national charity that provides legal advice and representation to immigrants and asylum seekers which has offices across the East Midlands is the most recent casualty of the cuts in Legal Aid, having just gone into administration. It means that thousands of people will struggle to have access to immigration and asylum advice warns Waleed Hussain, immigration specialist at the office of leading Midlands law firm Cartwright King.

"The IAS used to provide free advice and assistance on all immigration, asylum and nationality issues to people in the UK and abroad if they were eligible for Legal Aid but all that changed in 2004 when the Government cut some of the funding," said Waleed. "Since then anyone that exceeds the income and capital limits laid down by the Legal Services Commission has had to pay but it would appear that the IAS's charging structure coupled with the cut in funding left it struggling financially and has led to the current situation it finds itself in."

"The current Legal Aid Bill going through parliament is going to further restrict Legal Aid for immigration and asylum matters which means more and more people are going to have to pay for their advice and representation," added Waleed.  "This is a development that we anticipated and have taken steps ourselves to ensure we can provide a range of immigration legal services to a growing private client base."