SCHEME: Cornwall County Council pulls out of community advice network arrangement


Plans to set up the first Community Legal Advice Network (CLAN) have been derailed by Cornwall County Council pulling out of the arrangement, the Gazette has learnt. The development is a blow to a key element of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) civil legal aid strategy.



The LSC admitted the council's decision was 'disappointing' and said it had spent £15,000 on appointing a network co-ordinator for the scheme.



In March 2007, the LSC and the county council signed an agreement to develop the network, through which groups of advisers would join together to provide clients with legal help for social welfare problems such as housing, debt or family breakdown.



Prior to the agreement, the county council had been granted unitary status. After consultation with stakeholders, it decided that it was not the appropriate time to commit further resources to the scheme. Instead, it wanted to focus on ensuring a smooth transition to unitary status.



David Phillips, Cornwall's head of trading standards and advice network project leader, said: 'Building an integrated advice network is still high on the council's agenda. Moving forward, the council will continue working with all advice providers in the county to create and deliver a seamless service to clients who are seeking advice and help.



'Whether or not we re-engage with the LSC to develop a CLAN in Cornwall will be a decision for the new council after 2009,' he added.



An LSC spokeswoman said: 'The LSC is disappointed that we are unable to take forward the joint commissioning process in Cornwall but understands the county council's reasons. [We] will now consider how to take forward the delivery of integrated social welfare law services in Cornwall, in both the short and long terms.'



The LSC had invested £15,000 in the development of the network through the employment of a network coordinator. The spokeswoman said this had been put to good effect to communicate the message about joint working to the local advice sector.



She added: 'We understand that this new approach to the procurement of services brings challenges to service providers. However, we feel that this is the way forward in terms of achieving value for money and ensuring we are buying the right services for clients.'



Catherine Baksi