3 Conclusion
13. At the oral evidence session, the LSC indicated
that the decision was made in order to refocus the money. In particular,
it was suggested that this would allow a greater number of people
to be helped, and that specialist advice could be provided through
a telephone service the LSC (CLS Direct). The LSC conceded that
during the course of the consultation it had not received any
complaints about the Specialist Support Services service.[13]
14. The decision to cease providing Specialist Support
Services, and the manner in which that decision was made, is likely
to cause a number of difficulties. Firms will have problems in
making business planning decisions if the LSC chooses simply to
remove funding without prior warning. We are also concerned about
replacing the current system, which works well, with one which
may provide for greater numbers of people receiving advice, but
of a lower quality. Many consumers of legal aid services will
find it difficult to understand complicated legal advice over
the telephone. This is especially so since the advice concerned
is specialist legal advice which is being provided to vulnerable
groups including those with mental health, immigration and complex
public law problems.
15. We do not accept that CLS Direct (which itself
uses specialist support) is an adequate alternative to specialist
support services. In his evidence Mr Harvey missed the point when
dealing with the issue of carrying into effect complicated legal
advice[14] Peer review
of the quality of that advice can give no guarantee of a client's
ability to act on it. Mr Harvey also said that front-line advisers
have recourse to CLS Direct[15]
but the LSC document[16]
certainly appears to limit the service to members of the public.
We are also concerned that the resources budgeted for the advertising
of the CLS Direct telephone number are likely to be insufficient
and note with some anxiety that it is not a free number: callers
have to pay a local charge rate.
16. The decision to cease providing Specialist
Support Services was based on a flawed consultation process, which
failed to indicate to providers that one of the options was to
cease provision of the service and consciously omitted to ask
the Welsh Assembly Government for its view.[17]
We understand that the feedback that has been received about the
Specialist Support Services pilots has been positive and that
the LSC accepts that the service has been useful. We note that
the LSC believes that the money can be more usefully spent providing
advice directly to consumers. However, we do not accept that this
is a suitable approach for complex areas of the law involving
potentially vulnerable people.
17. We are concerned that LSC has chosen to end
the pilot, giving firms concerned only six months notice. This
clearly demonstrates a lack of engagement with suppliers. It is
impossible for firms to conduct proper business planning if the
LSC is constantly tinkering with its budget and cutting services.
We recommend that the LSC should reconsider its decision to cease
providing Specialist Support Services.
13 Q 47 Back
14
Q 68 Back
15
Q 4 Back
16
See LSC's 'Information for Applicants-National Telephone Service'-invitation
to Welsh agencies to tender for CLS Direct Back
17
Q 71 Back
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