REPORT: fears raised over independence of CLACs as government announces six more


The Advice Services Alliance (ASA) has warned that the new community legal advice centres (CLACs) might not be sufficiently independent of funding bodies to avoid conflicts of interest, as the government unveils plans for six new centres nationwide.



In a report published last week - based on the tender documents for the first five CLACs established - the ASA questioned whether they could operate in clients' best interests in certain sectors - such as housing - if solely reliant on funding from local authorities and the government.



Adam Griffith, ASA's policy officer for legal services and author of the document, also raised concerns about whether the CLACs were properly funded.



Griffith also queried whether the risks and costs involved in setting up 'monopoly services' in areas where there were existing providers were worth the disruption.



The report was also highly critical of the way CLACs had been introduced, claiming the government had not consulted practitioners or the voluntary and private sectors.



Griffith told the Gazette: 'We would urge the LSC to proceed cautiously and to conduct a thorough evaluation of the existing CLACs before rolling them out any further.'



The Legal Services Commission (LSC) last week announced plans for six new community legal advice centres and networks to be up and running by 2010.



It said it was working in partnership with local authorities in Manchester, Stockport and Sunderland to set up three CLACs, and with local authorities in Wales, Gloucester and West Sussex to establish three new community legal advice networks (CLANs).

CLACs are already operating in Gateshead, Leicester, Derby and Portsmouth, and a preferred bidder has been identified to run a centre in Hull. In addition, discussions are under way with local authorities to set up CLACs in Barking and Dagenham and Wakefield, as well as a CLAN in the East Riding of Yorkshire.



Carol Storer, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said: 'The LSC is taking a big risk bringing in CLACs where there are existing providers. They are inevitably going to damage local provision.'



An LSC spokeswoman said: 'For too long publicly funded legal advice has been governed by the structure of the provider base and not by the problems people face.'



'Centres and networks will allow both the LSC and local authorities to maximise the value of their resources, pooling funds, where they share common objectives. More joined-up working will lead to less duplication in effort and better linked services.'



A full evaluation of the first round of CLACs will be produced in 2009.



Catherine Baksi