Community Legal Service - abolished!

[nickd]

Not many people realise that a once thriving innovative community initiative is due to disappear..

The "Community Legal Service"



Will be abolished if legal reforms get through parliament


Some of you will recognise the logo, others won't...





Once the logo disappears - so will the service.


(1) The abolition of the Community Legal Service[/u]


It was the 1999 Access to Justice Act which introduced the Community Legal Service.


It was seen by many as one of the best innovations which came out of the 1999 act, the Community Legal Service enabled advice agencies such as the CAB and law centres to tender for statutory funding for the specialist work they had been doing for years with little or no previous recognition. Community Legal Service funding has undoubtedly taken CAB to a higher and more professional level in providing highly specialised advice services; principally in the categories of debt and welfare benefit advice, some organisations have held contracts in others areas such as housing and employment too. The Community Legal Service enabled local solicitors to refer their clients to agencies such as CAB and law centres; - it was a reciprocal arrangement which worked well in communities and improved over the years to the point where most have become justifiably proud of its existence. The Community Legal Service has done a great deal in improving the lives of those in communities; - it was and continues to be a great aid to social recovery.

Few people realise that when the Community Legal Service goes, there will be no statutory funded access to specialist advice services from CAB and law centres for any one with a welfare benefit or employment problem; there will be exceptionally limited access to debt and housing advice.

Sections of the Legal aid, sentencing & punishment of offenders bill (LASPO) now going through parliament will dispose of the Community Legal Service (CLS); - people will miss it once it has gone; - right now they are not realising what is at stake.

Clauses 1 to 6 and schedule 5(49) of LASPO omit sections 1 to 26 of the Access to Justice Act (which introduced the CLS).


(2) Abolition is not consistent with the government's Big Society mission

Abandoning the Community Legal Service is totally inconsistent with government's big society agenda and its emphasis on the importance of localism and community initiatives.


Here's what Mr Cameron said when launching his Big Society mission:

He said the government's "duty" was sorting out the budget deficit and building economic growth but he added: "What is my mission, what is it I am really passionate about? It is actually social recovery as well as economic recovery".

"We do need a social recovery to mend the broken society and to me, that's what the Big Society is all about."

Why abolish a perfectly good community initiative at a time when social recovery is absolutely vital to every community. There could not be a worse time to take specialist advice away.


(3) Why abolish a perfectly good community service?

The Community Legal Service has consistently been praised from its introduction right up until the introduction of the legal aid bill; - only then did it become 'inefficient' .


Here's what the Legal Services Commission was saying in 2010 when opening the Barking & Dagenham Community Legal Advice Centre.

“I am delighted to be present at the launch of this new Centre,” said Sir Bill Callaghan, Chair of the Legal Services Commission. “The Centre fills significant gaps in the borough’s publicly-funded legal services that existed before it opened. Now people will be able to get all the advice they need from one place at times convenient to them. Both Edwards Duthie and the CAB have excellent track records of delivering public services and are committed to delivering a high quality services.”


The Community Legal Service has been well acclaimed and highly praised throughout its duration; - there is no justifiable reason for abandoning a community service with a proven high quality standard and excellent track record.


(4) The Community Legal Service was introduced for all the right reasons - to improve access to justice.

As part of the 1999 Access to Justice Act reforms, no one doubted the vital role CAB and Law Centres would play in promoting access to specialised legal advice in areas of social welfare law for those most in need.


Labour was all for focussing on people's real needs in 1999:

"The Access to Justice Bill is the most important legal reform of the past 50 years. It is radical and innovative. It is a significant step in restructuring our legal services better to protect the rights of our citizens. It will focus legal services on people's real needs. It presents a considerable opportunity and a considerable challenge to all who work in the law.

We are determined to deliver a modern justice system that meets the needs of all our citizens in the modern era. The public demand, and we must deliver, a justice system in which they have the utmost confidence. We will not be diverted from that task by reactionary elements in the legal professions. The legal system is not an end in itself; it is for and about the protection of people and of society. It protects our basic rights. Our legal services must serve the users and society generally, rather than the needs of those operating the system."

When the Access to Justice Act was being implemented in Parliament in 1999; - the role of CAB and law centres was supported by the then opposition government.


(5) In 1999 the Conservatives were right behind helping the poor and the disabled and those fighting the State.[/u]

They said the Access to Justice Act didn't go far enough.

"Why are the Government not prepared to include in the Bill the desirable, civilised and humane objectives of ensuring access to justice for the poor, the disabled and those living in remote or inner-city areas—access that will allow them equality of arms in their claims against defendant corporations which are backed by insurers, against Government Departments and against public authorities?" [/i]

In 1999, far from demoting the role of CAB & law centres; - the Conservative government was actually saying Labour wasn't going far enough in it's protection of the poor, the disabled and those in diverse areas.


It's a shame our politicians now condemn what they once praised. Let's not forget that once this goes....





Statutory funded specialist help for many social welfare problems becomes a thing of the past - as does our Community Legal Service. There will be no statutory funding for anyone who needs specialist help to tackle the State over a welfare benefit problem.

A lot's changed since 1999. We now have:

(i) Millions of people in personal debt needing specialist advice before cases get to court - legal aid helps people to resolve these issues.

(ii) Millions of people will be affected by far reaching welfare reform; - record numbers are already appealing for re-instatement of their benefits with 70% success rates at tribunals with legal aid.

(iii) The greatest need for a Community Legal Service.


(6) And finally - a bit about cost

When government tells us it can't afford legal aid, it's omitting to tell you a few vital truths; - it can find the money.


Government boasts how the UK legal services market generates £23 billion pounds of income into the UK economy every year. Government is happily investing millions in allowing foreigners to come to our country to settle their multi-million pound disputes in UK law courts. It's no mere coincidence that a £300 million pound state of the art law court was opened by the Her Majesty the Queen in London late last year in hushed silence. The Ministry of Justice is spending millions in paying consultants, paying public funded private contractors to implement costly computer systems in courts, running our prisons and engaging in offender rehabilitation projects. The Ministry of Justice is keeping quiet about the asset value of many unused court buildings which could be sold following the closure of hundreds of magistrates' courts over the last 12 months. Millions of pounds have been invested in dealing with the extra costs associated with thousands of benefit appeals brought about by flawed welfare reforms.

The Ministry of Justice isn't touching large parts of the £2.1 billion legal aid bill. The Ministry reminds us how legal aid costs us all £39 per head of population per year. It keeps quiet about the how little the costs are for welfare benefit legal aid; - under 50 pence per head; - it's how much the Ministry needs to find to meet the £26 million budget for welfare benefit legal aid. It's one of the smallest expenses to the State; - yet it's subject to the most savage cut at an almighty 100%.


Government can afford to find £26 million; by reducing the MOJ budget elsewhere. It only needs to find a saving of less than 50 per head of population, it's illogical to say it cannot make such an essential saving.


Money well spent





It can easily be found.

The Ministry of Justice is going against all it has supported in the past, it is letting down its communities and implementing change which is counter to every single big society objective. On financial grounds alone, using well founded Citizens Advice research for every £1 spent on welfare benefit legal aid £8.80 is saved. By making a saving of £26 million in the Justice budget, every head of the population would gain by around £4.40. Why is the Ministry of Justice keeping this from the Treasury?

This is all about abolishing help for those on benefits; - it also about failing our communities. It is doing nothing to promote justice or deliver financial savings.


Links
www.legalservices.gov.uk/aboutus/11556_11704.asp

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12443396

hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1999/apr/14/access-to-justice-bill-lords