Vera Baird, QC MP, Minister for Legal Aid, today announced a landmark agreement between Cornwall County Council and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) that is paving the way for the first Community Legal Advice Network (CLAN)

The CLAN aims to join-up advisers and specialist legal providers, particularly in rural areas, who will work closely together to ensure seamless advice across the range of social welfare law, from family law to discrimination, from welfare benefits to debt. The intention is that a client will be able to get in touch with any point of access and be able to tap into the full range of services offered by the whole network

The LSC and Cornwall County Council today signed an agreement to develop a CLAN, through which clients will be able to get legal help for social welfare problems such as housing, debt or family breakdown

Speaking at the Eden Project conference on legal advice in rural and coastal areas, the Minister, told delegates that the LSC and Cornwall County Council partnership will develop this “pioneering” approach to delivering legal aid advice in Cornwall, and will use innovative methods of ensuring that legal advice is available throughout Cornwall, regardless of where a person happens to live

Vera Baird, MP QC, Minister for Legal Aid said:

“Research shows that people often don’t know what kind of advice they need, and tend to give up if they are referred on from their first point of call. That can lead to their problems multiplying with consequent misery, poverty and social exclusion. Especially, in a county as large and diverse as Cornwall an Advice Network should go a long way to improving early access to advice services to protect people against such poor outcomes.”

Carolyn Regan, the Chief Executive of the LSC said:

“This first Community Legal Advice Network in Cornwall will give people access to specialist advisors across the County. The Network aims to help people in rural areas overcome barriers to finding the advice they need. Poor public transport and long journeys between legal aid providers specialising in different areas of law can stop people seeking help for their problems. The impact of getting the right advice at the right time could mean people do not lose their home, or have their children taken into care. The LSC is focused on continually improving access to advice for our clients, we expect to announce further Centres and Networks in the near future.”

The Leader of Cornwall County Council, David Whalley, said:

“Yet again Cornwall is leading the way in developing a service which will help residents across the county. Although there are already many people and organisations working hard to deliver the best possible advice to people in need, the results of our survey shows that many clients are looking for more co-ordination and better access to information. This exciting partnership with the Legal Services Commission, the first of its kind in the UK, will create a new advice Network which will provide a ‘seamless’ service which will support people from the first contact through to solving the problem. It will also make sure that all clients receive the same level of advice.”

The proposed network will provide services extending from basic advice to specialist representation in the highest courts

There will be a requirement for solicitors and advice agencies within the network to focus services in areas where need is greatest, rather than where solicitors’ offices or advice agencies might otherwise be. The network will be able to deliver better, more coordinated and more cost-effective legal help for people in greatest need

Staff will also have a remit to tackle the common causes of local problems, rather than dealing with them by repeated individual legal actions. Raising awareness of the issues and negotiating before resorting to litigation can save time and money and avoid distress

The concept of delivering civil legal advice in this way was first proposed in the LSC’s Community Legal Service strategy, Making Legal Rights a Reality. Professional groups, legal aid service providers and other interested parties commented on the proposals during a three-month consultation in summer of 2005

At the Eden Centre conference the Legal Services Research Centre also presented the results of research illustrating the impact of poor access to legal advice on people’s lives. Professor Pascoe Pleasence gave the results of interviews with Cornwall residents who have recently sought legal advice

The conference was organised by the South & West Region of the Legal Services Commission. Clients of advice services, solicitors, legal advice workers, academics and others with an interest in rural and coastal issues shared their experiences. They also explored ways of working together to tackle the barriers that prevent people getting the advice they need, such as outreach and the use of phone advice and video conferencing