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Community Legal Service (CLS)- Civil areas of work
- Social welfare
Social welfare
- What is social welfare law?
- Buying integrated services
- Housing Possession Court Duty Schemes
- Seeking legal advice?
What is social welfare law?
Social welfare law covers:
- community care
- debt
- employment
- housing
- welfare benefits.
An integrated service enables clients to access a full range of legal aid services in one place, rather than going to several different advisers for different problems.
We are working to set up integrated services for social welfare and family law. These will cover legal help from initial advice to representation at court.
Buying integrated social welfare law services
The 2010 Standard Civil Contract for civil legal aid providers replaced our Unified Contract in November 2010. The project to buy integrated social welfare law services has been managed as part of this programme. For this reason, the tender included the social welfare law categories of Debt, Housing and Welfare Benefits bundled into a single combination.
We have also been working with local authorities to set up Community Legal Advice services buying integrated social welfare law services at a local level.
Housing Possession Court Duty Schemes
The LSC funds Housing Possession Court Duty Schemes (HPCDS) throughout England and Wales to provide on-the-day emergency advice and advocacy to anyone facing possession proceedings.
The schemes allow anyone in danger of eviction or having property repossessed to get free legal advice and representation on the day of their hearing, regardless of their financial circumstances.
- In 2009/10 HPCDS centres undertook nearly 32,000 acts of assistance.
- In 79% of these cases the client was able to remain in their own home after the hearing.
A list of courts currently covered by LSC funded schemes is available in the documents panel.
Seeking legal advice?
- 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.
Calls cost no more than 4p per minute from a BT landline but calls from mobiles are usually more. Worried about the cost? Ask an advisor to call you back, or get us to call you back by:
- using our webform
- texting 'legal aid' then your name to 80010.
We will call you back within 24 hours. Text costs will be at your standard rate.
The helpline has a translation service if you would like advice in a language other than English or Welsh.
Search our directory to find a local legal adviser.
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Last updated: 13 December 2010