Consultation paper on future of CLS grants - Legal Services ...

1. Purpose of the consultation
<strong>Consultation</strong> on the future of the CLS Grants
July 2012
1.1. Since the creation of Community Legal Service (CLS) Grants in 2000 the priorities for
the Legal Services Commission (LSC) have changed considerably.
1.2. The Community Legal Service Strategy, on which the current grants are based, is no
longer current and the passing of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of
Offenders Act (LASPO Act) in May 2012 significantly changes the emphasis of the
delivery of legal aid.
1.3. The LSC’s priority is to commission services that provide timely access to quality legal
advice for eligible clients and this must be done within the resources we have available.
In light of the LASPO Act our focus will be on targeting legal aid on the most serious
cases. CLS Grants fund projects or activities that do not necessarily provide direct
advice to solely eligible clients and it does not fit within the future direction of legal aid.
1.4. Given the changes to the legal aid landscape and the shift in priorities, the LSC is
proposing to cease CLS Grants from 1st April 2013, when the remaining grant funding
arrangements have come to an end. Through this consultation <strong>paper</strong> we are now
seeking views on this proposal.
2. Background to CLS Grants
2.1. CLS Grants were created in 2000 under Direction by the Lord Chancellor.
2.2. It has enabled the LSC to award funding to projects and activities that do not
necessarily provide direct advice solely to eligible clients, and therefore fall outside of
the direct scope of legal aid. Funding has been used to support the development of the
legal advice provider base (including not for profit agencies and Law Centres); to help
increase the provision of pro bono services and support for unrepresented litigants (now
referred to as self represented parties); to raise awareness of issues faced by specific
demographic groups, including developing services to support such groups; and to
inform the development of policy, both at a national level and local level to help resolve
specific problems.
2.3. CLS Grants have been used to fund one off pieces of work, short term projects and in
some instances have funded activities on an on-going basis for a significant number of
years (over 10 years in some cases).
2.4. A timeline of the development of the CLS Grants can be found below:
DATE ACTION
2000 CLS Grants were created under Direction by the Lord Chancellor.
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2005 A review of CLS Grants was undertaken with the intention to retain CLS
Grants but to bring in a new set of criteria for funding.
Following the threat of Judicial Review on the Specialist Support Service
the CLS Grants review was not concluded and the existing grant funding
arrangements were extended to March 2008.
June 2007 The LSC undertook a further review and consultation on CLS Grants 1 .
The review concluded that CLS Grants were an effective mechanism for
funding complimentary services and recommended retaining them with
the following changes:
- the level of the CLS Grants budget was raised (by c£70k) to £1
million per annum for 3 years;
- CLS Grants criteria and application process were revised to align
with LSC priorities and the Community Legal Service Strategy 2 in
particular; and
- a revised tender process was undertaken to award new grants
from April 2008.
April 2008 A total of 9 grants were awarded from April 2008. The funding awarded
was either one-off or fixed term and the length of the grants varied
between the organisations.
March/April
2011
October
2011
Of the original 9 grant funding awards:
- 6 funding agreements came to an end at this point or prior to this
date in line with their original funding terms; and
- 3 of the grant funded organisations (those that have been funded
on a long standing basis) were offered a 1 year extension to their
original 3 year grant funding arrangement.
Proposals were requested from the 3 remaining grant funded
organisations for the following 12 months and LSC set out its intention to
make savings of 10% in line with the overall changes to legal aid
remuneration.
Proposals from the 3 organisations were accepted by the LSC to see the
organisations through a period of significant change up until the point
that the legal aid reforms are implemented. The grants were further
extended for 12 months to 31 st March 2013.
1 ‘Legal Services Commission review of the Specialist Support Service and the Community Legal Service
Grants financed by the Community Legal Service Fund’ – June 2007.
2 Strategy for the Community Legal Service – Making Legal Rights a Reality, 2006.
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2.5. The number of CLS Grants in place has reduced as individual funding terms have come
to an end. Organisations funded by CLS Grants were made aware that there was no
commitment by the LSC to provide funding beyond the end of their grant funding term
and there was an expectation that they should seek alternative funding for their
project/service once the grant came to an end.
2.6. The value of funding under CLS Grants since 2008 is as follows:
3. Changing Landscape in Legal Aid
Strategic Priorities
3.1. Since 2008 the criteria for CLS Grants has aligned to the priority areas of work
designed to deliver the CLS policy objectives as set out in the Strategy for the
Community Legal Service (CLS) 2006 - 2011, with its emphasis on education and
information, strategic action and development of integrated services. The strategy
focused on three priority areas of work:
Individual acts of advice and representation;
Strategic action to address the need for advice and representation; and
Information and education about legal rights and responsibilities.
3.2. In 2008 the criteria also stipulated the need for grant funded organisations to support
the transformation of legal aid in accordance with Legal Aid Reform: the Way Ahead3
either through supporting the transformation of the not for profit provider base to deliver
legal aid or to support services which specifically focused on the priorities set out in the
Lord Chancellor’s Directions, namely:
Special Children Act proceedings;
Civil proceedings where the client is at real and immediate loss of life or liberty;
and
Help with social welfare issues that will enable people to avoid or climb out of
social exclusion.
3.3. The financial pressures on the legal aid budget have meant that priorities have shifted.
Six years on the CLS Strategy is no longer current and from April 2013, when the
LASPO Act is implemented, the Lord Chancellor’s priorities will no longer apply.
3 Legal Aid Reform: the Way Ahead, November 2006
Year Value
2008/09 £1,080,824
2009/10 £1,004,094
2010/11 £867,488
2011/12 £729,000
2012/13
(planned expenditure)
£655,317
Total £4,336,723
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Additionally, since 2007 not for profit organisations have been operating under the
same contractual requirements as for profit organisations and the transitional support
arrangements that were in place for the not for profit sector at the time of the last CLS
Grants funding round, have come to an end.
3.4. The LSC’s Strategic Plans for 2008-2011 and 2009-2012, had the objective of
maximising access to quality services to meet the diverse needs of the clients we serve,
with a key action of increasing access to civil legal advice services and the number of
acts of assistance.
3.5. Our current priority, as set out in the LSC’s Business Plan 2012-13, is to commission
and procure services that provide timely access to quality legal advice for eligible
clients, within the resources available. Although corporate priorities have not been
published for 2013-14 it is likely that this will remain our focus going forward.
3.6. CLS Grants fund projects or activities that do not necessarily provide direct advice to
solely eligible clients and therefore it does not fit within the future direction of, and
priorities for, legal aid.
Financial/Political
3.7. In May 2012 the LASPO Act was given Royal Assent. The Act significantly changes the
emphasis for the delivery of legal aid, and targeting it on the most serious cases is its
priority focus. As a result, from April 2013 the scope of civil legal aid services will be
greatly reduced.
3.8. In order to support the 3 remaining grant holders through this period of significant
reform of legal aid, the LSC extended the grant funding arrangements for two
consecutive 12 month periods (with a 10% reduction in funding for each organisation in
2012/13 in line with overall changes to legal aid remuneration). The current grants
come to an end in March 2013 at the point that the legal aid reforms are implemented.
3.9. The Government has made it clear that its priority is to reduce the fiscal deficit and this
was reflected in the LSC’s reduced financial settlement. Proposals for reducing legal
aid by £350m by 2014/15 will have far reaching implications for both the administration
and provision of legal aid over the next three years. We need to reduce our
administration budget by around 23% and will be moving from being a Non
Departmental Public Body to become an Executive Agency (the Legal Aid Agency) of
the Ministry of Justice.
3.10. The Legal Aid Agency’s priorities will be based around the Ministry of Justice’s
Corporate Vision for 2011-154, which states that it will ‘reform the legal aid system to
make it work more efficiently, while ensuring that we provide necessary support for
those who need it most and for those cases that require it’. This sets the strategic
context within which the Agency must commission and administer a cost effective and
good quality legal aid system. A key priority for the Agency will therefore be to target
it’s funding on the most serious cases (in line with the LASPO Act).
3.11. It is therefore appropriate for the LSC to consider now what the priorities for funding
going forward will be in light of both government policy objectives and the LSC’s
organisational reform. It is the appropriate time for the LSC to consider the future of
CLS Grants.
4 Ministry of Justice Business Plan 2011-2015.
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3.12. The LSC proposals for the future of CLS Grants should be considered in light of the
other actions that the LSC has undertaken to focus funding on core responsibilities. For
example, since 2009 the LSC has:
Current Grants
Discontinued the award of grants for trainee solicitors;
Published our intention to withdraw the Quality Mark for the Bar;
Outsourced the audit function for the Specialist Quality Mark and transferred
ownership of the intellectual property rights for the General Quality Mark to the
Advice Services Alliance;
Reduced contributions for accreditation schemes (and will cease contributions
entirely from April 2013); and
Announced that the Specialist Support Service will be not continue beyond 6th
July 2012.
Each of these steps is consistent with an organisation that is seeking to ensure that
limited funding is focused on the core delivery priorities relevant to the competent
administration of legal aid.
3.13. At present there are 3 grants remaining, which have been funded by the LSC for a
considerable length of time. These are for the Advice Services Alliance (ASA), Law
Centres Federation (LCF) and the Royal Courts of Justice CAB.
3.14. The main purpose of funding for ASA is to provide a national policy voice for the not for
profit advice sector and to provide support and guidance to not for profit organisations
holding LSC contracts. Similarly, the purpose of the LCF grant is to assist Law Centres
through the legal aid reforms and improve services, as well as delivering policy
research and legal education in order to influence policy makers to make changes to
reduce social exclusion.
3.15. These grants have been extended twice, up until the point of implementation of the
legal aid reforms in April 2013 to enable the grant holders to continue to provide support
and guidance through a period of transition. Both online and face to face training on the
legal aid reforms will be available for civil providers with an LSC contract from February
2013 to enable them to further prepare and Contract Managers will be available for
guidance following the implementation of reforms.
3.16. The main purpose of the Royal Courts of Justice CAB funding is to provide access to
justice for self represented parties (SRPs). The Ministry of Justice Impact Assessment
on the legal aid reform programme includes aims to promote inclusion through the
introduction of self help and support networks aimed at assisting all SRPs through the
justice system (e.g. online support, videos, court familiarisation visits). We do not
consider that, in the current financial climate, it is appropriate for the LSC to fund a
service for those individuals not represented by an LSC contracted provider.
3.17. The LSC is conscious that work to support SRPs is an ongoing priority for wider MoJ,
who have recently provided RCJ CAB with £75k of funding for a specific project to help
support SRPs. However, we have taken the view that this is not core work for the LSC,
and that other funding streams should be considered to support this work in future.
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4. Proposals
4.1. As outlined above the priorities for the LSC have changed considerably since the
creation of CLS Grants and going forward our business priorities will be closely tied to
the revised scope of legal aid and the Ministry of Justice’s corporate priorities.
4.2. Additionally in light of the financial pressures facing the legal aid budget the LSC must
continue to focus its resources on its core task of providing advice to eligible clients.
4.3. CLS Grants do not directly support these objectives and is therefore no longer
considered a priority for legal aid funding.
4.4. The LSC has made no on-going commitment to CLS Grants or the individual grants
funded through it and the remaining 3 grant agreements are due to come to an end in
March 2013.
4.5. Having considered government priorities, the original objectives of CLS Grants, and the
current legal aid landscape, we are therefore proposing to cease CLS Grants at the end
of March 2013. We propose to give no extensions beyond the current funding
arrangements and do not intend to undertake any further bid rounds for CLS Grants.
5. Equalities Impact Assessment
5.1. In considering the future of CLS Grants the LSC has had due regard to our equality
duty. To help us do this, we are carrying out an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA). A
copy of our draft EIA can be found at Annex A.
5.2. The EIA considers the LSC’s statutory obligations to have regard to the need to
eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity
and foster good relations between persons with a protected characteristic and those
who do not.
5.3. Our assessment considers the impact of the proposal to cease CLS Grants on potential
future bidders (although undefined), including the current grant funded organisations
and their associated stakeholders.
5.4. Available diversity data to inform the EIA is very limited and therefore through this
consultation we are seeking any additional information that consultees can provide in
order to inform our assessment.
5.5. Based on our draft assessment to date, we do not consider that ceasing CLS Grants
will lead to unlawful discrimination.
5.6. However, we acknowledge that ceasing CLS Grants would bring to an end a possible
means for the LSC (or the Legal Aid Agency from April 2013) to advance equality and
foster good relations.
5.7. We will complete our EIA once we have reviewed responses to this consultation. The
final EIA will be made available along with the outcome of the consultation.
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<strong>Consultation</strong> Questions
Q1: Do you agree with the proposal to cease CLS Grants? If not, why not and why do
you think this is a priority for legal aid funding from 2013?
Q2: The draft EIA sets out the equality considerations to which the LSC has had regard
in formulating this proposal. Do you hold any information that would help us
assess the equality impact of the proposal? If so, please could you send this to us
with your response to the consultation.
Q3: Do you agree with the assumptions based on the information currently available
made in the draft EIA? Are there any other factors you think we should consider
before making a decision about the future of CLS Grants?
Submitting a response
The LSC is keen to hear from anyone with an interest in or experience of the issues covered by
this consultation. The deadline for responses is Friday 21 st September 2012.
Please email your response to: emma.boniface@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Legal Services Commission may
disclose your name and the contents of your response. If you provide reasons why you do not
wish these details to be disclosed, this will be taken into consideration if a request for such
information is received. If you have concerns about any disclosure, you should mark your
response clearly to identify areas to withhold with reference to the relevant exemptions that
might apply under the FOI Act. In any event, responses may be disclosed in an anonymous or
summary format.
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