A shortage of funds is holding up an innovative webcam scheme, reports Rupert White


Everyone who matters thinks it is a superb idea, one that could connect the public with legal advice more easily and inexpensively. No one doubts that it could give access to justice for those most in need and most unable to get it.



But if Oxfordshire is any example, it may take drastic measures by the legal profession to get new technologies for remotely delivered legal advice out to the public.



Marlan Higgins, a partner at Oxford firm Turpin Miller & Higgins (TMH), has been struggling for some time to get his plan for a webcam-enabled system - called Legal Advice Direct - off the ground. Even though everyone from the Lord Chancellor and the head of the Community Legal Service (CLS) to those on the ground thinks it represents the way forward, there is not the money to put it in place and it may not see the light of day until at least March next year.



When the Legal Services Commission (LSC) laid out its strategy for the CLS in March this year, much was made of how new technology could provide access to legal advice to those currently denied it through circumstance or geography, for example. When the Gazette interviewed Crispin Passmore, director of the CLS, about using technology to deliver 'face-to-face' legal advice to people who could not or would not come into a solicitors' office (See [2006] Gazette, 6 April, 11), he named webcams and video conferencing as effective solutions.




Mr Passmore still believes this. 'I think we know full well already from the work that's been done around the country that using video conferencing and webcam[s] is an effective way to reach out to different groups,' he said last week.




But, he added, because providers in Oxfordshire are already contracted until at least March 2007 there is currently no money to spend on any further projects such as Legal Advice Direct. The LSC 'doesn't fund methods of delivery, it funds services to clients', he said.



Mr Passmore said that if extra money came up this year, there may be a chance that some of it may go to Oxford, and there may be a bidding round in which Mr Higgins can pitch. Certainly he could not 'promise [Mr Higgins] that it's going to be in Oxford and it's going to be this year'.




These 'maybes' are at odds with the needs that are actually there. Dawn Hodson, county domestic violence co-ordinator for Oxfordshire County Council, wants to use Legal Advice Direct to provide outreach legal advice to victims of domestic violence. The webcams would be attached to counsellors' laptops when they are making visits to victims. Family centres would also be equipped with the system. 'It's about having information accessible in the community for people so they don't have to go and find a solicitor, because getting vulnerable people to see a solicitor is really difficult at times unless they're at crisis point,' said Ms Hodson. 'To be able to discuss with a professional in confidence without going into a solicitor's office will be a fantastic thing to trial.'



'We're waiting for the technology,' she said. 'Marlan did a presentation to our county steering group and they all in principle supported it.' And there is money to follow the promises - Ms Hodson said the £2,000 needed to buy the computer equipment needed is already there, indicating that those with the purse strings in Oxford think the system is the way to go.



They are not alone. In September last year, the Lord Chancellor himself went to Oxford to see the set-up, then a test system called TMH Direct. Lord Falconer told the Gazette last week he was impressed with it.




'The system I saw last year was of great interest and seemed to offer real possibilities for the general public,' he said. 'We need to find new ways to connect the public to good quality legal advice as speedily and effectively as possible. Clearly we should make the best use of new and innovative technology and seek to develop this further to the benefit of those who use legal services.'



The stumbling block is the same as it ever was - money. Mr Passmore at the CLS told the Gazette that, just because the service could not offer any more contracts as of now, 'any of the suppliers in Oxford can take this technology and use it, any of them, and they can use that to meet need'.




But how likely is this? For various reasons, Mr Higgins's firm, TMH, turned down the offer of £240,000 to pilot the set-up last year. Mr Passmore admitted that none of the other providers is operating a similar system in the county.



This week, Mr Higgins demonstrated the latest version of the Legal Advice Direct set-up to LSC regional officials and other interested parties, including Thames Valley Police. Ms Hodson is of the opinion that victims of domestic violence will benefit greatly from a system like Legal Advice Direct, especially in seeking help earlier. And the top legal brass in the country say webcam outreach is a winning strategy for delivering better access to justice.



So when will Legal Advice Direct finally take flight?