Evidence submitted by Specialist Support
Services
OBSERVATIONS BY
SERVICE USERS
ON THE
PROPOSED CLOSURE
OF THE
SPECIALIST SUPPORT
SERVICE
The following comments have been received by
three of the SSS organisations (Morgans; LASA and CPAG) over the
last few weeks, since the termination of the Specialist Support
Service was announced. They are representative of all areas of
work.
— "In order for the LSC and Government
to adequately attempt to meet their commitments to reducing poverty,
improving public services then advice is an essential part."
— "We have always found the service
to be very helpful and informative, especially in developing areas
of social security law, eg right to reside. If the service is
withdrawn it will make matters very difficult for us and many
other advice agencies, which will of course have a direct and
negative effect on client welfare."
— "All the Specialist Support
services are vital to the quality and availability of advice in
the voluntary sector. Losing these services will have a massively
negative effect on access to justice for clients".
— "Major backwards step—Makes
a mockery of access to justice if SSS ceases to exist"
— "I am an expert family lawyer
helping amongst others vulnerable clients in the inner city. At
times I need advice re: Welfare Benefits due to the impact of
a financial settlement in divorce proceedings and we have no one
in house to provide such advice".
— "Loss of the SSS will have a
marked effect on the quality and level of advice we can give.
We are a very rural area where there are no solicitors offering
legal aid in benefits, clients have nowhere else to go other than
to their CAB. Without Specialist Support the level of expertise
offered by the CAB will reduce."
— "The SSS provides an invaluable
service for sounding ideas and gaining new insight, it is a very
efficient way of providing expert knowledge to a vast number of
clients".
— "the ability to access other
organisations for expert guidance has been invaluable . . . the
removal of the service will leave the public in a worse state
of provision for their needs".
— "This is an invaluable service
for us and our clients. We have very good, well trained and informed
advisers who also recognise when they need to obtain in depth
information on a topic . . . Clients are able to receive the most
comprehensive advice in the shortest possible time . . . Our advice
work covers housing law, welfare benefits law, debt law and human
rights. Clearly w e cannot be expected to have specialist knowledge
in all of these areas and it is extremely beneficial to be able
to access specialist support".
— "The excellent advice we have
received has enabled us to pursue successful benefit appeals .
. . and avoid taking cases where the outcome would not have been
successful. The service is cost effective—saving public
money on the time spent by the caseworker researching law and
avoiding futile cases".
— "We are aware that the LSC have
budget constraints. However, their rationale that they are cutting
back on specialist support to better help clients ie to provide
more case starts to clients does not make sense. Specialist support
provides better training and more exposure to advisers which in
turn allows them to identify issues more quickly and effectively
which benefits clients. The quicker an adviser can resolve a case
the more cases an adviser can deal with—which is the aim
of legal aid (I think)".
— "As one fee earner in the Social
Welfare dept of a large firm of solicitors I, along with my colleagues
am appalled by the withdrawal of funding for what is supposedly
a community based service. Without this valuable asset there will
be further dwindling of access to justice for those who need it
most. Although an experienced advisor of 15 years there have been
times when I have needed to access the Specialist Support Services
for help and advice for issue beyond my expertise. Welfare law
is one of the most complex and although we are a firm with dozens
of solicitors, none of them have the knowledge of welfare law
required to give their opinions. Without the SSS I would not have
been in a position to proceed with a number of cases for some
of my most vulnerable clients. I have had excellent advice from
the SSS which has a substantial impact on the outcomes of cases
and alternatively those cases without sufficient benefit have
not progressed thereby reducing the LSC funding costs".
— "I believe that the LSC need
to appreciate that in the areas of law covered by Specialist Support
services, those seeking advice are in dire need or are teetering
on the edge of financial, health or social ruin. Poor advice can
wreck lives but even specialist front line services are faced
with a dilemma as to who to help. When faced with a complex case
that could take 40 hours to research and ultimately resolve but
on the other hand 20 other people with straightforward inquiries
that could all be helped with the same resources, how does the
advice provider decide what to do? With the assistance of the
specialist support lines the provider now has a fighting chance
to do both which gives a life line to may clients. I also believe
that diverting current resources away from the specialist support
services and into front line may be a false economy. Without support,
complex cases will take longer and may result in unmeritorious
cases being taken forward unnecessarily. I consider withdrawal
of specialist support services a serious concern to specialist
and non-specialist providers alike".
— "We are very concerned at the
LSC proposal to withdraw funding for Specialist Support. We hold
a Housing franchise but can do 10% other work under Tolerance.
This is mostly welfare benefits work where clients also have welfare
benefits issues. We are not Welfare Benefits specialists and need
access to Specialist Support. We would otherwise have to refer
cases out. Where welfare benefits and housing issues are linked
it is more efficient to deal with the whole case in house and
allows us to provide a holistic service to clients. Access to
Specialist Support has meant that we have gained expertise in
dealing with cases and this would be lost over time if support
services go. As a Housing specialist we are dismayed at the loss
of Two Garden Court Chambers. We will have to refer cases to a
solicitor to obtain a barristers opinion and the LSC will have
to pay for this. Have the LSC considered how this may impact the
overall budget? I am sure that many agencies like ours will be
in the same position".
—. "In order for the LSC and Government
to adequately attempt to meet their commitment to reducing poverty,
improving public services then advice is an essential part".
— "I work in two communities designated
as disadvantaged, I have a disproportionate number of clients
on welfare benefits and I work under heavy pressure. I will be
hard put to continue achieving good results for clients if the
Specialist Support Service is cut".
— "Access to specialist expertise
in respect of difficult and complex cases is invaluable. The loss
of the service will result in a worse outcome for our clients,
most of whom are vulnerable. We my also have to refer clients
to other agencies and, in our particular case, this would involve
travel to the nearest town when they have a limited income".
— "I am the only solicitor in
my practice dealing with mental health work and it has proved
invaluable to be able to contact others and discuss a case to
gain advice. The price of courses is so competitive at a time
when our rates of pay are so low".
— "I feel most strongly that the
funding for the Specialist Support Services should not be withdrawn.
I would urge MPs/funders to change their decision. I regularly
use the Specialist Support Services. All advisors are helpful,
friendly and extremely knowledgeable. This has saved me an immense
amount of time and as such I have been more productive in my own
work. This also means that my clients have benefited".
— "All the Specialist Support
Services used by the Centre have been of assistance and provide
invaluable back up to enable us to advise and advocate on behalf
of clients. We are an independent housing aid centre who do not
have the same back up as nationally affiliated agencies. The charitable
and voluntary sector in Cheltenham and Gloucester is coming under
increasing pressure in terms of volume of case load and funding.
The loss of such a valuable service is the effective removal of
another brick in the wall as far as the independent advice sector
is concerned. We believe that we are reaching a critical point
for the future of the sector as it currently stands".
Specialist Support Services
February 2006
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