Areas of work

On this page:

Delivering family legal advice via our telephone service
Making Legal Rights a Reality for Children and Families
Evaluating the Family Advice and Information Service (FAInS)
For more information

On 14 October we will be implementing the new Family Fee Schemes from 2010.

We are holding a number of free training events on Family Fee Schemes 2010 in September and early October 2010. For more details and to book an event please go to Training for Family Fees from 2010.

Delivering family legal advice via our telephone service

Community Legal Advice Direct is a telephone helpline that provides legal advice to eligible clients on a range of issues. Family advice is available over the telephone through providers that have Family CLA contract. Clients call a central number - 0845 345 4345 - to an operator service and first speak to an operator who will assess the caller’s needs. The operator can then chose to:

Connect the caller to a legal adviser to provide telephone advice
Provide details of local, quality-approved face-to-face advisers
Direct callers to other advice providers
Send out leaflets; and
Provide access to advice and information in over 170 different languages through the three-way telephone interpreting service, currently provided by Language Line.

Making Legal Rights a Reality for Children and Families

We published our five-year strategy for family legal aid in March 2007. This will help us achieve our vision for family legal aid:

to ensure clients have access to quality services which meet their needs
to work with providers who provide quality, value for money and client focused services
to deliver a sustainable legal aid scheme within the budget available.

Download the strategy on our Our Strategy for the CLS page.

Evaluating the Family Advice and Information Service (FAInS)

The Family Advice and Information Service (FAInS) pilot assessed and developed support available to couples and families in dispute. It covered private law disputes such as separation, divorce, residence and contact.

The evaluation is under Documents along with a summary of the key findings. It provides:

an insight into the wide range of issues impacting on Family solicitors
valuable opportunity to further our understanding of the client's experience of the Family Justice System/legal process.

For more information

For more information on any of the work listed on this page, please contact the Family team.

Worried about benefits or tax credits?
Having problems with your child’s school?
Are your debts out of control?
Are you being treated unfairly at work?
Are you having problems with your landlord?

Community Legal Advice can help with these kinds of problems if you are eligible for legal aid.

Call the helpline now on 0845 345 4345.

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Last updated: 19 July 2010