Miller: useful way to bridge gap Three pilot initiatives of alternative methods of providing legal aid advice have succeeded in improving access to legal advice, according to an evaluation released by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) last week – but solicitors warned that they should not be seen as a viable replacement for traditional advice.

The specialist support pilot, telephone advice pilot and housing possession court duty scheme – all launched in 2000 – have received positive feedback from users, the LSC report revealed.


Some 92% of users reported a successful outcome after using the specialist support pilot, which gives solicitors and other advisers access to expert telephone advice from specialist solicitors, barristers and not-for-profit organisations.


More than 1,800 organisations used the service in an 11-month period. There were 14,483 advice sessions. It has now been extended to nine categories of law.


The housing possession court duty scheme – which provides last-minute advice for people facing eviction – saw possession orders being granted against individuals in only 8% of cases where a solicitor was sought under the scheme.


Having helped more than 5,000 clients, the service is to continue in areas where need has been identified.


The telephone advice pilot was judged to deliver cost-effective, positive outcomes comparable to face-to-face advice, with better access for clients with mobility problems. A new national telephone information and advice helpline was launched by the LSC last month on the strength of the pilot’s success (see [2004] Gazette, 15 July, 4).


Community Legal Service Direct received 4,000 calls in its first month.


However, Richard Miller, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, warned: ‘The evaluation seems to have proved that these schemes have a valid place in the system and are a useful additional service. But there is a danger if they are seen as a replacement to face-to-face advice services – especially if they are seen as cheaper and more effective.


‘The report says that the telephone service has achieved similar results [to face-to-face advice] in a shorter space of time. But the clients are all self-selected, and so the problems dealt with may not be the complex ones.’


He added: ‘The specialist support scheme has been very valuable, given the quality problems that have been highlighted recently. It is a useful way of bridging that gap.’ Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva also backed the scheme.


Martin South, LSC head of policy and strategy (Community Legal Service), said the pilots had shown that alternative advice delivery methods could be high quality, cost-effective and timely.