The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is to spend £180,000 backing a three-year pilot casework training scheme at the College of Law's legal advice centre, chief executive Clare Dodgson revealed last week. The scheme enables students to gain practical experience dealing with housing law cases in a bid to encourage them to pursue a career in publicly funded work. The funding covers all staffing and costs of the free service, including the salary of full-time supervising solicitor and housing law specialist Pamela Robotham. Ms Dodgson also announced that the LSC's training support grants will now operate on a rolling basis, with 100 grants awarded annually from 2005. The grants cover tuition fees of students on the legal practice course and 75% of the Law Society's minimum salary, provided the student remains with the legal aid firm for at least two years after qualifying. The funding of salaries can amount to £20,000 over a two-year period. Legal Aid Practitioners Group director Richard Miller said he was glad the grants had been put on a permanent footing, and described them as 'a very positive development'. But he warned that training grants alone will not ensure that high-calibre students continue to choose legal aid.