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

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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. 2
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 3
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