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

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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. 4
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. 5
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