I'm a little non-plussed, my path having crossed with CLS Direct, really for the first time, and realizing how little i know about this...
i'm assisting a client with mental health problems in making a complaint against the DWP. he came in with a letter with the letterhead "CAPITA Insurance Services" Re: Complaint about attitude of Department for Work and Pensions Staff.
My initial thought was concern that client had an insurance issue relating to his case which he hadn't told me about, but he was baffled, and on closer examination I spotted the CLS Direct logo at the foot of the page, adjacent to various advice line numbers.

I recalled that he had told me he had sought advice from various sources, including CLS direct. The letter is basically a file closure advice letter, with client questionnaire - it just took a while for the penny to drop with me - and client hadn't been able to work it out at all. I hadn't realized there is a file - he described telephone advice to me. i was surprised it wasn't headed CLS Direct.

We had a real issue with the LSC in our recent past in which they forced us to cut out level 1 advice, for which there was a great deal of need in our immediate locality particularly, to concentrate on specialist advice. The need was high because there's a great deal of language difficulty and other social exclusion problems, and limited suitable alternative providers to refer people to. The LSC was impervious to our arguments, which i need not rehearse here.

Unlike this client, many wouldn't seek telephone advice - they need face to face services. Advice provision was therefore reduced locally.

I realize that the LSC is set on developing and marketing CLS Direct, and i have no objection to accessible advice provision in any source for those able to use and benefit from it, but bearing in mind also the specialist support services debacle, i'm not happy that this is at the expense of other experienced and high quality providers and the needs of their clients, especially in the not-for profit area, and i question the propriety of the LSC's role as administrators of the legal aid scheme, in driving what looks to me like a privatisation programme.

would appreciate views.