Press Release
COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICE DIRECT IS LAUNCHED - Advice on legal problems now just a phone call away
Community Legal Service Direct provides a new way for people to get help with their civil legal problems. Launched by the Legal Services Commission today, it offers free, high-quality information and advice for everyone and help with civil legal cases for those who qualify for legal aid.
Community Legal Service Direct introduces a new national telephone advice line (0845 345 4 345) providing legal help on welfare benefits, debt and education problems for the whole of England and Wales. Other services brought together under the Community Legal Services Direct brand include:
- the www.clsdirect.org.uk website (previously www.justask.org.uk) which features easy to understand legal information, a search capacity enabling people to find a legal aid adviser or solicitor in their area, and an on-line calculator allowing them to check their eligibility for legal aid.
- information leaflets covering 24 separate topics such as 'losing your home' and 'divorce and separation' which can be ordered from the helpline or downloaded from the website. New leaflets on subjects including 'care proceedings' and 'domestic violence, abuse and harassment' extend the range of issues covered even further and will be available from September.
Community Legal Service Direct will help meet the soaring demand for alternatives to face-to-face advice. Last year alone, the Legal Services Commission distributed 1.5 million Community Legal Service information leaflets and the website is visited 50,000 times each month, making it the UK's most popular legal information website.
Telephone advice has been successfully piloted across England and Wales over the last three years, with advisers providing high-quality, cost-effective and timely specialist advice. The service has proved particularly valuable to people living in remote areas or those with mobility problems or caring responsibilities.
Community Legal Service Direct will complement face-to-face help, not replace it. Where face-to-face help is more appropriate, Community Legal Service Direct will play a vital role in helping people to make contact with a legal aid solicitor or adviser.
Speaking at the Community Legal Service Direct launch event in London, Clare Dodgson, Chief Executive of the Legal Services Commission, said: "Helping people with legal problems isn't just about making legal services available. It's also about making them easier to access. Community Legal Service Direct does exactly that, delivering information and advice to our homes through a single helpline and website."
David Lammy, Minister for Legal Aid added: "Physical barriers to seeking legal aid and justice are one thing, but social barriers are just as important. We know that many people are too embarrassed or confused to seek the help of someone in a face-to-face situation. Offering help by telephone and on the internet is a vital step towards delivering improved access to justice for vulnerable and socially excluded people."
ENDS
Media Information:
Richard Shand Tel: 020 7759 0491
Katherine Hartup Tel: 020 7759 0493
Notes to Editors
The Legal Services Commission helps people obtain publicly-funded legal and advice services. Its work is particularly important in ensuring that the vulnerable and socially excluded have access to justice. It replaced the Legal Aid Board in 2000 and is an independent public body, sponsored by the Department for Constitutional Affairs. This financial year, it will spend almost £2 billion on legal services, mainly through its two schemes in England and Wales: the Community Legal Service and the Criminal Defence Service.
The Community Legal Service is a national initiative, aiming to improve the public's access to quality information, advice and legal services for their civil legal problems, including debt, housing, family and employment. Free legal advice, and in some cases, mediation or representation is available to people who do not have the financial means to pay for legal help. These services are delivered through more than 6,000 Quality Marked solicitors' offices and advice agencies across England and Wales.
Last updated: 28 December 2006