Community Legal Service Partnerships (CLSPs) are 'dormant or dying on their feet', with only a handful of solicitors now participating and most of the parties involved believing that they have failed to make a difference, research has suggested.

The study by the Advice Services Alliance - based on interviews with 20 CLSP participants - showed that although there had been benefits in terms of networking, progress had been hindered by little action, lack of funding and gaps in involvement.

'We found a very strong pattern of only one or two solicitors from private practice staying the course and remaining involved,' the report said.

It also suggested that the Legal Services Commission (LSC) itself had turned its back on some partnerships by failing nationally to consult with them.

However, the report concluded that CLSPs should not be abolished but given a more defined role and increased resources.

Report author and ASA policy officer Adam Griffith called for a debate on how to take the partnerships forward.

'Some of the people we spoke to thought that they had wasted a lot of their time for two years or more,' he added.

CLS strategy head Martin South said partnerships played a vital role in helping more than one million people with their legal problems, adding that it was considering the report in light of the wider review of the CLS which will be published shortly.

The report came in the same week that Gareth Thomas, MP for Clwyd West, raised concerns in Parliament about lack of advice in rural areas.

He complained that a 'standstill budget for the last three years' had resulted in both economic and social problems.

Legal aid minister David Lammy said recent research by the Legal Services Research Centre would help to address any problems.

Paula Rohan