A Change of Government Won't Alter Our Approach

At our 2024 AGM last week, PILC reflect on the ways that our vision goes far beyond what Westminster offers.  

Last week, we invited the whole team, our trustees, partnerships and wider community to join us at PILC’s 2024 AGM.  

In this rare opportunity to get together in the same room, we took time to celebrate our achievements and share details of our work over the past 12 months. We also reflected on the importance of creating resources and hosting events to share our work throughout the year so it can be applied to other cases.  

Growing our capacity to fight  

The most remarkable development in the past year is the breadth of cases PILC is now able to take on within its three areas of expertise: state accountability; housing, land and community assets; racial justice and migrants' rights. 

To take on larger and more complex projects in the fight for justice this year, the litigation team expanded to nine solicitors and seven assistants/paralegals.  

PILC's legal work remains centred on supporting marginalised and working-class communities to hold the state to account and challenge unfair/unlawful decision-making. We use strategic litigation to support broader movements for social justice, such as movements against housing/land dispossession, against racism and against workers' precarity. 

State Accountability 

Arguably, all of our work could be looked at through the lens of holding the state to account. The change in government this year is not a cure-all by any means, and we will continue to fight for justice.  

By far our biggest piece of work in 2023-24 has been the Covid-19 Public Inquiry. The panel of the night focused on the experience of frontline migrant health workers during the pandemic. We were joined by Alex Marshall (Independent Workers of Great Britain), Francesca Humi (Kanlungan Filipino Consortium) Petros Elias (United Voices of the World).  

It was incredibly moving to hear about the grave challenges migrant frontline health workers faced during the pandemic due to systemic failures exacerbated by decades-long outsourcing and privatisation policies of successive governments. Keep your eyes peeled for more on this soon.  

[Read more about the Covid Inquiry so far] 

We continue to represent 12 Core Participants and witnesses from a number of organisations including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Stop the War Coalition and Youth against Racism in Europe at the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI). In 2024 our clients Kate Hudson, Lindsey German and Michael Chant gave evidence in tranche 2 (1982-93). Our work in the UCPI was foundational for PILC.

We continue to act in the Independent Blacklisting Collusion Inquiry. This independent inquiry is funded by, but independent of, Unite the Union and is investigating allegations of blacklisting by trade union officials in the construction industry. The final report is due soon.  

Our case to de-proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam whilst unsuccessful at the appeal commission, is continuing in the Court of Appeal. 

We were successful in bringing a claim against the Legal Aid Agency for the discriminatory practices. Their policies excluded pensioners access to legal aid - (exciting update to come). 

Housing, Land and Community Assets 

This area of our work spans a wide variety of cases, and several different approaches.  

This year, we were proud to work with Aysen and members of the Aylesbury Estate, resulting in a huge win in the High Court. Developers were told that their plans “lacked coherence.” This is an important judgement for housing campaigners across the country, as the case scrutinised the method in which developers use ‘drop in’ applications to deviate from what was promised to residents.  

We also commissioned a report intro gentrification in London that provide hard evidence as to how wildly ineffective cross-subsidy models of estate regeneration are for providing affordable housing for low-income Londoners. To make the findings as accessible and as useful as possible for campaigners, we created a guide and video that we will continue to share.  

Other cases in this area were support for domestic abuse survivors in council housing, continued work to defend of Gypsies & Travellers' rights and calling for the government to protect open spaces.   

Racial Justice and Migrants' Rights 

For years successive governments and the media establishment have enabled xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia to fester. They have scapegoated racialised communities, refugees and asylum seekers. Back in summer, we saw the very real violent consequences of this when far-right groups made threats to asylum accommodation, immigration solicitors and advice centres around the country.  

This year we created resources to decode complex legal judgments and share information about what protections are available in law for racialised communities, including a challenge to EUSS application delays, and advice for people who face far-right threats while in asylum accommodation. We also worked closely with RAMFEL to challenge fee regulations in which the Home Office has a concession for spouses to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain but no fee waiver in place, leaving many spouses with No Recourse to Public Funds in limbo. After being refused permission twice, it was eventually granted and the Home Office settled the case in March. It took another 6 months to get the Fee Regulations changed. 

Onwards 

We are under no illusions that the change of government will alter what we do. Our vision is to go far beyond what is on offer in Westminster. We’re so pleased to have a dedicated team, trustees and volunteers with a strong commitment to the work we do. 

Shining awareness on our rights is a vital first step when challenging systemic injustice.  

This year we created In the Public Interest – a quarterly newsletter packed with community updates about how we fight, what we learn and how we win. Stay up to date with our latest work, hear from the team about their approach to working.

40% of our income comes from the foundations and trusts who believe in what we do.  A huge thank you to the Baring Foundation, Access to Justice Foundation, and Disrupt Foundation who have given us grants this year.