Where people on low incomes live, and where the Law Centres are
The English indices of deprivation count the people on low incomes in every neighbourhood — the people who cannot pay a lawyer. The Law Centres Network publishes where its Law Centres are. This puts the two side by side.
This is a map, not a law firm, and nobody here can give legal advice. A Law Centre can, free — find one under Find a Law Centre. If you have a court date or a deadline, say so straight away when you contact them.
13,241,147people on low incomes in England
Counted by the English indices of deprivation: people in low-income families receiving the benefits the index names.
83 of 152areas of England where a Law Centre shows
Counties and unitary authorities where a Law Centre gives an address, or a Law Centre charity records working there.
62.3%of people on low incomes live in an area where a Law Centre shows
Summed over each area’s own neighbourhoods.
4,995,473people on low incomes live where neither record shows one
Which does not mean they cannot get free legal help — see what it does not mean.
More locations across the country
The Law Centres Network says its job is “to help more people, with more problems, in more locations across the country”. Law Centres show in 22 of 33 London boroughs and 25 of 36 metropolitan boroughs — and in 15 of England’s 24 counties and 21 of its 59 unitary councils. The largest areas where neither record shows one are Lancashire, Staffordshire and Surrey.
Where the Law Centres are
England’s counties and unitary authorities, split into five equal groups by the published measure of deprivation — the share of each area’s neighbourhoods in the most deprived tenth nationally.
| Deprivation | Areas | A Law Centre shows |
|---|---|---|
| Least deprived fifth | 30 | 14 of 30 |
| Second | 30 | 16 of 30 |
| Middle | 31 | 20 of 31 |
| Fourth | 30 | 17 of 30 |
| Most deprived fifth | 31 | 16 of 31 |
There is no steady pattern with deprivation. Comparing the two ends: one is present in 16 of the 31 most deprived areas and 14 of the 30 least deprived. That is a finding about where Law Centres are, not about how much help anybody gets.
By kind of council
Every county and unitary authority, by the kind of council it is. London boroughs and metropolitan boroughs are the big cities and their conurbations; counties are mostly rural and small-town England; the unitary councils are a mix, many of them cities.
| Kind of council | Areas | A Law Centre shows | Share of people on low incomes living where one shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| London boroughs | 33 | 22 of 33 | 67.0% |
| Metropolitan boroughs | 36 | 25 of 36 | 75.0% |
| Unitary councils in England | 59 | 21 of 59 | 41.5% |
| Counties | 24 | 15 of 24 | 64.9% |
See the areas where no Law Centre shows, and what that does not mean →
The need map, place by place
The need map sets people on low incomes and households found homeless beside Law Centres, legal aid offices by category of law and advice charities, with a one-page briefing for each of its 152 county and unitary areas and 9 pages, one per legal problem. The evidence gap map sets out what public records cannot show: demand, unmet need, extent and impact.
The Law Centres themselves
The Law Centres Network lists 43 Law Centres, 2 of them in Wales or Northern Ireland; one Law Centre with two offices can appear twice. 37 charities on the register stand behind them. The typical one — the median — reported income of £842,278 in its latest accounts.
What this is for
Two readers, and they want different things.
- Somebody with a legal problem who cannot pay a lawyer. The list is here to find the nearest Law Centre, with each one’s own website.
- Somebody arguing about free legal help. This counts where the Law Centres are against where people on low incomes live, council area by council area, rather than asserting either.
This was built without asking you, from information you and others already publish, to show what is possible rather than to speak for you. If you would rather it came down, say so and it comes down, and you do not have to give a reason. If you would rather it were built properly — with your own figures for the clients each one works with — that is the more interesting conversation.