House Call


Gareth Mitchell is wrong to claim that since the Community Legal Service (CLS) was introduced six years ago, there has been a fall in real terms in legal aid funding for housing advice (see [2007] Gazette, 22 February, 18). In fact, it has increased 18% in real terms over that time.



In straight cash spend, the increase is 37% - from £17.4 million in 1999-2000 to nearly £24 million in 2005/06 - and this does not include more than 12,000 housing matters dealt with by CLS Direct last year. The CLS has developed additional ways of delivering advice designed around the needs of clients - such as telephone services and court-based housing possession schemes.



The aim of the legal aid reforms is to help more people within the same budget by encouraging efficiency and rewarding efficient providers. Many are already highly efficient but this is not consistent. The new fixed fees for civil advice have been calculated on a cost-neutral basis, and for more than 60% of providers they represent an increase in their current average payments.



Crispin Passmore, director of the Community Legal Service, London