Leading Q.C. Mark Powell has warned that children could be unfairly removed from their parents as a result of a major shake-up in the legal aid system.

The Deputy Judge Head of Child Care with Cardiff solicitors Hugh James, claims the new arrangements which have seen some law firms removed from a list of practices allowed to be paid from public funds, will force some vulnerable people to represent themselves in court.

The changes introduced by the Legal Services Commission, are intended to improve the quality of representation for parents and children.

Many solicitors disagree with two senior judges from South Wales writing letters of protest to the LSC. Judge Mark Furness and Judge Crispin Masterman, who preside respectively over Family Courts in Newport and Cardiff, had both written letters expressing serious concern over the issue.

The warning from judges came as Welsh Women’s Aid warned that the legal aid cuts could also hit victims of domestic violence.