State subsidy for training slashes costs

Lawyers can slash the cost of their continuing professional development training after a solicitor-run on-line training company realised that the legal profession could benefit from government subsidy.Individual learning accounts (ILAs), pioneered by the Department for Education and Employment, offer subsidies of up to 150 for people wanting to develop their skills and enhance their career prospects.

The scheme has been available since 1999, but training company 2Ends is the first provider to offer ILAs to solicitors, barristers, trainees and paralegals.The company says that subscribers could now end up paying as little as 25 for one year's on-line training, which covers subjects ranging from commercial and company law to litigation and practice management.LINKS: www.2ends.comPaula Rohan