Immigration and asylum legal advice

15 August 2022

Your request

Does the local authority fund any immigration or asylum legal advice?

If yes, please state:

  • What is the scope of the funding?
  • Which department funds the advice?
  • What is the source of the funds provided by the local authority?
  • Is this by grant or contract?
  • Which organisation/s are funded to deliver the advice?

Please give any other details you are able to share about the funding.

If no, please state:

  • Whether the Local Authority has previously funded any immigration legal advice (since 2000)?
  • Whether there has been any consideration of funding or commissioning immigration legal advice in the period since 2010?

Our response

Immigration advice is currently provided as part of the core offer of advice services provided by Citizen's Advice Merton and Lambeth, Centre 70, and Brixton Advice Centre. These services are funded through the General Fund to a total base value of £325,000. Since 2021-2022, 509 residents have accessed the general advice service in order to obtain immigration advice.

In January 2021, Lambeth commissioned immigration advice and support for EU nationals living in Lambeth who were required to apply for European Union Settled Status by June 2021. The services included specialist support for particularly complex immigration cases from Southwark Law Centre, and provision for Portuguese and Spanish speaking residents through Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation.

The combined cost of the services was £136,000. This cost was met from the budget which the Council has allocated to mitigate the risks of the UK’s exit from the European Union and from existing budgets in the Strategy and Communications division. The budget was allocated to the following groups:

  1. A six month contract from 25 January 2021 to 23 July 2021 for £50,000 to Citizens Advice Merton and Lambeth to provide advice to Lambeth residents on the EU Settlement Scheme.
  2. A six month contract from 25 January 2021 to 23 July 2021 for £25,000 to the Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation (IRMO) to provide advice to Lambeth residents on the EU Settlement Scheme.
  3. A six month contract from 25 January 2021 to 23 July 2021 for £20,000 to Southwark Law Centre to provide advice to Lambeth residents on the EU Settlement Scheme.

Also, £41,000 of funding was allocated to the Adults and Health department to identify and support service users to apply for settled status.