Evidence submitted by the Civil Justice
Council—Access to Justice Committee
INTRODUCTION
Information and advice about legal rights and
responsibilities, coupled with timely intervention, are crucial
to the effective operation of the civil justice system.
The Civil Justice Council's Access to Justice
Committee identified a need to increase awareness of this essential
strand in the fabric of justice. A working group (The Financial
and Social Costs Group) was established to gather evidence and
write a brief paper, with the short-term aim of encouraging in-depth
research by others. The longer-term aim is to persuade policy-makers
to fund information and advice services at adequate levels.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
There are a number of useful studies of the
value of information and advice work, which identify positive
outcomes for users. These are generally expressed in terms of
financial and social benefits for individuals. The Committee believes
that if adequate funding is to be provided for frontline information
and advice, policy-makers will also need to be convinced of the
financial arguments in terms of overall savings to national and
local government budgets. Our review suggested that:
— If people know what their legal rights
are, they are more likely to be able to establish or defend them
successfully in the first instance.
— There are a number of studies which
identify positive social and financial outcomes for people who
obtain timely advice, for example:
People who get advice achieve an above-average
rate of resolution of their problems.
Information and advice demonstrably
improve physical and mental health.
— Early advice identifies applications
and appeals with little or no chance of success, so that these
can be filtered out of the civil justice system.
— Appropriate advice in an individual
case can result in changes to organisational policy, which will
have a beneficial impact on many other people.
— Mediation preserves valuable public
resources by saving court and tribunal time.
— Those who fund information, advice
and representation need to be able to make a business case to
justify expenditure.
— Financial models need to be developed
to demonstrate overall savings to national and local government
budgets.
— We hope that this brief review will
encourage a key funder, or group of funders, to sponsor a research
project to identify methods of providing evidence of overall savings.
JOINED UP
THINKING
The Committee believes that if people get good
advice at an early stage, it helps the individual concerned, diverts
cases from the legal system, resolves problems successfully, and
saves money for local authorities and government departments.
There is evidence that some Local Strategic Partnership strategies
are beginning to understand the key contribution information and
advice provision can make to regeneration.[90]
However, we believe that significant further work is needed to
ensure that policy-makers recognise that social exclusion cannot
be tackled effectively without a systematic strategy to fund information
and advice services.
At the most basic level, people need to know
what their legal rights are. Early information and advice enables
them to establish those rights through services that are cost-effective
and tailored to meet their users' needs. We believe that a number
of the government's key Public Service Agreement targets require
adequate funding for information and advice services if they are
to be met. For example, ". . . .the number of families living
in non-decent social housing falling by one-third by 2004";
". . . .reducing the number of children in poverty by at
least a quarter by 2004".
METHODOLOGY
The working group contacted a wide range of
agencies providing information and advice in England and Wales.
These were asked for examples of instances where advice resolved
a problem well for clients, minimised the involvement of the courts
and saved public money. For example, advice on Housing Benefit
and early intervention by advice agencies with landlords, can
prevent rent arrears and possession proceedings, saving local
authorities money in both Housing and Social Services Departments
and saving court time.[91]
Organisations contacted were those such as Citizens
Advice and the Law Centres Federation, where the primary purpose
is to provide advice and representation. Also included were agencies
such as the Multiple Sclerosis Society, which provide a wide range
of services, of which advice forms one aspect, to a particular
client group. Some would have liked to provide responses; but
explained that they simply did not have the resources to do so.
See Appendix 1 for a list of those that were able to assist.
In addition, the Committee obtained information
about the operation of the Red Hook Community Justice Center,
set up in June 2000, in New York State. This is a multi-jurisdictional
community Court, which attempts comprehensively to address problems
affecting the individual and the community. The court has jurisdiction
over criminal, family and civil matters. Offenders are sentenced
to community service such as graffiti removal, maintenance of
public spaces and non-profit making administrative work. It works
closely with mediation services, domestic violence counselling,
youth development initiatives and drug rehabilitation programmes.
It appears that this model assists individuals and the community
by addressing the underlying causes of social problems. The Committee
believes that the systematic provision of information and advice
would produce similarly positive results and welcomes the proposal
to set up a similar pilot project in Liverpool.
THEMES IN
THE RESPONSES
The evidence which we were given confirmed the
Committee's initial hypothesis, and suggests that early information
and advice lead to significant individual and community benefits
which would be quantifiable in financial terms:
— Better outcomes for individuals.
— Cases resolved at an earlier stage,
so less likely to enter the formal civil justice system.
Early information and advice can ensure that
poor decisions are quickly corrected. For example, a Local Authority
may incorrectly reject an application for housing. If the client
is provided with information and advice, the decision can be challenged
quickly, and the client will be housed without the additional
stress and anxiety of litigation.[92]
It will also save the local authority unnecessary Court costs
as well as saving Court time.
One of the studies we were sent compared the
outcomes for those who did and did not seek advice. In some cases,
notably neighbour problems and landlord problems, legal advice
was a particularly significant factor leading to a positive outcome,
which could be achieved through mediation rather than litigation.[93]
Analysis shows that when legal advice is obtained,
it increases the likelihood that a case will end in agreement,
adjudication, or a court order. This means that, with advice,
people achieve an above-average rate of resolution. "Most
people are satisfied by the outcomes from their CAB contact...
there is evidence that sustained action by the CAB is a factor
in getting a good result."[94]
The same types of problems have a lower than average rate of resolution
if advice is not obtained.
In addition, information and advice demonstrably
improve physical and mental health. Money worries are frequently
cited as a cause of depression. Skilled advice can establish liability
for debts, maximize income and ensure that affordable repayment
schedules are agreed with creditors, including the client's landlord
or mortgagor.[95]
Creating a realistic agreement for debt-repayment reduces stress
on the individual, without involving the civil Courts. "[A
report]. . . found statistically significant health gain associated
with general advice services for a population of homeless people".[96]
We were provided with the evaluation of a project
to provide independent advice to help people to obtain their full
entitlements under community care legislation.[97]
It found that about three-quarters of people who worked directly
with the project achieved their goals. Community Care is becoming
an increasing subject of legislation. Investment in skilled advice
in this area is likely to assist people quickly to obtain the
care they need. Costly legal challenges could be avoided, leaving
the local authority's budget available to fund direct services.
Another study concerned information and advice
provided to people subject to Probation Orders.[98]
Although less integrated than the Red Hook Community Court, there
was evidence that the level of such assistance seemed to affect
the recidivism rate. The project was particularly successful in
relation to the most financially vulnerable.
REDUCTION IN
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
THROUGH COURTS
AND TRIBUNALS
Early advice identifies applications and appeals
with little or no chance of success, so that these can be filtered
out before reaching the civil justice system. Even where a case
could be successful, a trained adviser would attempt to settle
the claim without the need to issue proceedings.
Law Centres Federation provided the example
of three teenage brothers, who were abandoned by their aunt in
a bedsit. The oldest was nineteen. They were threatened with illegal
eviction. The Law Centre prevented their eviction and applied
for local authority housing for them. The Local Authority proposed
to put the younger brothers in foster accommodation, which would
split the family. The Law Centre intervened and as a result, the
Council housed the family of brothers together. This was achieved
without the need for expensive litigation and saved the cost of
foster care for the younger boys.
Since some employment disputes can be heard
in the civil courts, it is worth noting that a study of Employment
Tribunals showed that applicants who obtained advice were less
likely to withdraw their applications, and more likely to settle
them[99].
The Disability Rights Commission provided us with an example of
a client who had not been recruited due to concerns about her
impairment. A relatively early approach to the DRC ensured that
she did not miss the deadline to bring litigation; but in the
event, their ongoing negotiations enabled the case to be settled
to her satisfaction without Court action. In addition, the DRC
secured a significant change in recruitment policy, which would
ensure that the company would comply more closely with legislation.
Since the company had a substantial workforce, it was likely that
this would remove the cause of potential litigation in future.
We were also provided with evidence to suggest
that mediation preserves valuable public resources by saving court
and tribunal time[100].
In each case resolved by mediation there is a saving of any further
court or tribunal appearances or preparation for those appearances,
whether full hearings, appeals or intermediate stages.
CONCLUSION
There is a wealth of evidence of the positive
benefits, which result from information and advice about legal
rights and entitlements. We believe this paper indicates the overwhelming
important role that information and advice can have in promoting
access to justice and the constructive part it can play in reducing
social exclusion and improving people's lives.
As part of our review, we found that there is
at least one economic model, which has been developed to assess
the beneficial impact on local economies of advice work[101].
This shows the extent to which money recovered for clients (for
example benefit arrears, rent deposits) is then spent in the local
area. We believe that a significant research study needs to be
commissioned to identify further economic models, which would
demonstrate that funding information and advice services is cost-effective,
when considered in an appropriate context.
The Community Legal Service was established
in 2000. One of its aims was to promote better co-ordination of
funding for advice and representation. The Committee believes
that one of the reasons a seamless service remains an aspiration,
is that there are still no compelling financial arguments to demonstrate
that funding is worthwhile. This paper has gathered evidence that
considerable data already exists on which such a study could be
based. We hope that this brief review of the evidence will encourage
a key funder to sponsor this pioneering piece of work.
Vicky Ling
Chair, Financial and Social Costs Group
Access to Justice Committee
Civil Justice Council
January 2004
90 LASA-Regeneration and Renewal-A Good Practice Guide
for London Advice Agencies (2002). Back
91
Citizens Advice-Possession Action, the Last Resort? (2003). Back
92
Legal and Advice Services-A Pathway out of social exclusion,
Law Centres Federation, 2001. Back
93
The Impact Of Advice-A Brief Report, Advice Services Alliance,
2003. Back
94
Ibid. Back
95
Regeneration and Renewal-A Good Practice Guide for London
Advice Agencies, LASA 2002. Back
96
Op Cit (Advice Services Alliance). Back
97
Op Cit (Advice Services Alliance). Back
98
Ibid. Back
99
Advice Services Alliance-Op Cit. Back
100
Disability Rights Commission-Submission to the Social and
Financial Costs Group 2003 also Law Works-Mediation-Submission
to the Social and Financial Costs Group 2003. Back
101
Sacks, J (2002) The Money Trail, New Economic Foundation,
London. Back
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