CLS news

The Community Legal Advice helpline launched a pilot appointment-making service on 21 July. This lets telephone operators book appointments for callers with face-to-face advice providers via an online system.

The pilot has begun in Wales and will roll-out to pilot areas in Cornwall and the north east during August.

This will create a seamless service for callers, linking telephone advice with face-to-face services in the pilot areas.

Callers will be offered a face to face appointment if :

• they are financially ineligible for legal aid 
• they do not want telephone advice, or
• telephone advice is not appropriate for that individual or their case.

The helpline staff will search for the next available appointment from a list of appointments provided by advisers. The caller will also be emailed or texted with confirmation of the booking and a reminder before an appointment.

Initial interest from suppliers has been high. 122 offices from the north east and 22 in Cornwall have expressed and interest. 40 offices in Wales will be offering appointments from 21 July.

We'd like to encourage more providers to sign-up to become part of this pilot so they can use the CLA helpline as part of their marketing mix – a direct way of gaining more clients with already organised appointments.

Further information

For further information or to sign up to the pilot, email Shelley Cooper.