LEGAL AID: specialist providers no longer to offer training


The Legal Services Commission (LSC) announced almost £5 million in funding for its specialist support service and community legal service grants this week.



However, solicitors criticised the LSC's decision to drop the training element from its support service.



The LSC has provided £2 million to fund the service, which gives legal aid providers across the country access to specialist advice over the telephone.



However, specialist providers will no longer offer training, which will instead be given by external providers. Legal Aid Practitioners Group chairman Roy Morgan said: 'Training was one of the best elements of the specialist support service... But the LSC has now decided this could be provided cheaper by external providers.' ?Morgan added that external training companies do not provide all the courses required.



An LSC spokesman said there was already a 'high level of quality training' from other sources.



The LSC has also raised slightly the amount funded in community legal services grants, which are targeted at specific projects, from £900,000 last year to just under £3 million over three years.



Rachel Rothwell