A struggling economy is the time when pressure mounts on families as they battle to cope financially and the result can be a breakdown in a relationship, divorce or separation, and disputes over children, housing and money.

We have experienced a steady flow of new clients to advise on such issues, and now we are facing a range of challenges.

The recent cuts announced by the Government are to hit the Ministry of Justice disproportionately hard.

The department is looking at cutbacks of 25 per cent but details are not yet clear. Inevitably, they will impact on staffing in the courts.

Three magistrates’ courts are already scheduled to close in Oxfordshire, which will have a knock on effect on the public and law firms’ level of service, as everything will take longer to process.

And, as more cuts hit the public purse, we are concerned ordinary people’s access to legal advice will be restricted in a variety of ways.

If financial eligibility is cut, only the very poor will qualify for legal aid, with those on middle incomes particularly hard hit.

They neither qualify for free advice, nor can they afford to pay. We are also fearful that the type of work we are allowed to undertake will be restricted.

Currently, clients can have legal advice on all aspects of family breakdown, divorce and disputes over money and children. We fear there will be a clampdown on funding in all of these areas so that shortly, people will simply have to do it themselves, or pay for the advice or representation they get.

Certainty is the key to running a business, and for us the need for legal advice in the case of a family breakdown is invaluable in terms of resolving disputes and ensuring fairness.

There is certainty, too, in the impact of the Chancellor’s increase in VAT which goes up to 20 per cent on January 4 next year. Clients struggling to pay at present will find it even harder.

Meanwhile, 2010 has been a terrible year from the point of view of the efficiency of the Legal Services Commission (LSC).

It announced in February that it had no money to meet the payments due to firms like ours for the work done, and it has taken six months for it to catch up.

All small businesses suffer ups and downs with cashflow, and we have not been alone in the county in being frustrated by these difficulties.

Earlier this year the LSC — previously the Legal Aid Board — put contracts out to tender, and we were successful in getting a contract for increased provision for legal help to the public.

On the back of that we appointed new staff, including two new solicitors, only to be presented with more uncertainty when the contract was declared null and void by the courts when there was severe criticism of the way the LSC had dealt with the process.

Now we do not know where we stand, or what the future holds. We do know that firms are continuing to pull out of providing public funding, which will make access to justice for all even less achievable.

But there will always be a need to respond to emergency situations and we believe domestic violence and children being taken into care are two of the areas of public funding which can be ring-fenced and protected.

We will endeavour to continue to provide the needy and vulnerable, the warring spouses and unhappy individuals with the legal assistance they should be able to access without barriers.

o Contact: Oxford Law Group, 01865 297300. Web: www.oxfordlawgroup.co.uk