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What is Carousel fraud?

How Will the Proposed Cuts to Legal Aid Affect Those Who Will Need the Service in Years to Come?

Domestic Violence – How Can a Solicitor Help?

Romford office – Duncan Lewis Solicitors

Client Feedback

Duncan Lewis

Romford Office

Carousel fraud is a sophisticated type of fraud that delivers relatively high returns over quite a short period. Convictions are difficult to bring against the fraudsters, because it is difficult to find proof of the fraud having been perpetrated.

Essentially, goods are brought into the UK from other countries in the EU without incurring VAT, and then instead of being sold on for UK consumption, they are transferred on through a number of different companies, each of which is liable to VAT, before being sent abroad and possibly even to their originator. The first company in the chain, or carousel, typically then goes missing without making account for the VAT, whilst the final link reclaims VAT from the government and then also disappears.

Carousel fraud, then, is essent

Changes that are being proposed to the legal aid system will, according to many involved in the matter, have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable members of society in the UK. The Ministry of Justice has proposed sweeping cuts to the whole legal aid system and those areas affected will have a direct impact on people with no recourse to other funding to support their legal proceedings.

Free independent advice services will probably suffer, and councils will have to face many tough choices when it comes to implementing the cuts as the aim of the Ministry is to reduce the legal aid bill to the tune of £350 million per annum over the course of the next few years.

Free legal advice on issues such as welfare benefits, clinical negligence, and debt in the case of homes not in immediate jeopardy would stop if the proposed cuts were to be implemented in their entirety.

The Home Secretary has suggested that the cuts are intended, in part, to help discourage people from resorting to lawyers and the legal process whenever problems are encountered, and proposed a new civil and family scheme to prevent such abuse from continuing. But there is widespread fear that if the plans are put into effect unchanged the impact on poorer people who rely on legal aid for genuine cases will be devastating.

For those members of society on the lowest income levels, legal aid has always been there as an effective safety net, and there are a lot of legal aid-funded services such as specialist welfare rights advice services which would disappear if the plans came into force. Fewer experts will be available to provide advice and guidance in certain situations; for example, housing advice under the proposed new scheme will only become freely available at the point of eviction, which will be too late.

Many of the cuts will affect families facing issues such as non-violent domestic disputes, welfare, divorce and child access. In housing, only when a home is at immediate risk will free legal aid be forthcoming.

The Ministry of Justice is quick to point out that full legal aid will still be available where lives are at risk or where there are issues such as homelessness or violence, or the loss of liberty is at stake, and supports the idea of individuals being able to hold the state to account when it comes to serious matters through channels of judicial review.
The upshot of all this is that if the cuts to the legal aid system are made without any changes then in future those on the lower income levels will suffer both in terms of advice and access to justice through the courts. Solicitors such as Duncan Lewis will continue to help in any way they can, and legal aid solicitors in general will doubtless work on ways to offset the negative effects of any cuts by proposing schemes of their own, so that free advice and access to legal proceedings continue to be made available to the less advantaged members of society.

A solicitor can help you should you or your children become involved in issues of domestic violence. The solicitor will be able to advise you on matters such as legal protection. Suitable family solicitors in the area can easily be found through the police, women’s centres, aid groups and rape crisis centres all over the country, and those recommended by such organisations will usually be sympathetic, experienced, and easy to approach.

A solicitor should be approached the moment you make the decision that matters have gone too far and that the domestic situation will not rectify itself by your doing nothing. It is perfectly acceptable in most cases for a friend can accompany you for support, and most solicitors never object to such an arrangement. The first interview will last

The Duncan Lewis Romford Office was opened in October 2007 as a result of applying for a Crime contract.

Around the same time, the LSC published a Bid Round in the Civil categories as they recognised that there was an under supply in certain social welfare categories of law. We saw this as an opportunity to set up a branch office and gain a contract to do both crime and civil areas of law. We were successful in securing matter starts in 8 of the Civil Categories.

As a result of the successful bid tender the Company decided to take 4000sq feet of office space just off the high street in Romford. The office can house 40 staff and will initially be fed with clients who are travelling from Romford and Ilford and Essex to the Hackney office. The office currently has 12 staff and is in the process of expansion to cope with the current level of work.

To book an appointment please contact Duncan Lewis New Client Co-ordinators on 0800 740 8081.

Address of the Duncan Lewis Romford office:
Second Floor
1-3 Western Road
Romford
RM1 3LD

You can access the Duncan Lewis Romford office by car or British Rail.

Car

The office is right in Romford Town Centre and is not easily accessible by car, nor is there much on street parking available - although there are public car parks. From London the best route is to take the A12 towards Chelmsford and Colchester and then turn off at the A125 which will take you to the Romford Ring Road. If coming by car, you would be best advised to park where you can and follow the directions for walking to the office from the Railway station - which is very near to the office.

British Rail

Romford Railway station is operated by National Express East Anglia and is approximately 2 minutes walk from the station. When leaving the station turn left and start walking along the pedestrian precinct. Turn right onto Western Road, before the Costa Coffee café on the corner. The office is the first entrance on the left hand side, although our office is on the second floor of this building.

Duncan Lewis also has offices in the following locations in London and the Home Counties:-
Duncan Lewis – Clapham Junction
Duncan Lewis – Dalston
Duncan Lewis – Harrow
Duncan Lewis – New Cross
Duncan Lewis – Shepherds Bush
Duncan Lewis - Bedford

For more information please visit the Duncan Lewis home page at www.duncanlewis.co.uk

Duncan Lewis is the trading name of Duncan Lewis (Solicitors) Limited.

If you have used our service, we would like you to spend a few moments to comment upon the service you have received from our lawyers at Duncan Lewis. Please do not include any personal and confidential information about your case. Please however comment upon the service received from the solicitor(s) who assisted you and whether you were satisfied with the service that was provided to you at Duncan Lewis. Do also mention the department and name of the solicitor(s) who advised and assisted you. Any suggestions for improvement of our service will also be helpful. Thank you for your time.