Press Release

Highly rated Community Legal Service Direct adds new service

Friday 14 June 2006

Last year over 73,500 legal problems were solved throughout England and Wales simply by picking up the phone. The Legal Services Commission, which runs the Community Legal Service Direct helpline, is building on that success by replacing the current push button menu with an operator service and by adding more advisers.

People who live on a low income or benefits and are facing eviction, struggling to repay debts or unsure about their rights at work, can receive assistance by calling Community Legal Service Direct on 0845 345 4 345. They are also able to get advice about problems with their child’s school and with benefits and tax credits.

The success of the service is clear from the latest customer satisfaction survey, which shows that:

93% of respondents were satisfied with the service received
98% said they would recommend the service
89% said the service had helped with their problem.

From October the new operator service will offer an even more tailored and supportive service. Operators will:

help diagnose callers’ problems
offer general information about rights
give callers further options about where to get help.

Callers who have problems with benefits and tax credits, debt, education, employment or housing will complete a simple means test over the phone. If they are eligible for legal aid and need specialist help they will be put through to specialist legal advisers. If they need help in areas of law that are not covered by the helpline, they will be referred to another contracted legal advice provider or transferred to another helpline. The operator service will also refer callers to other sources of self-help such as websites and printed materials.

The operator service will be run by BSS, a registered charity with over 30 years’ experience of supplying services direct to the public. They specialise in socially responsible helplines and their other services include Learn Direct, MIND advice line and support for victims of sexual abuse.

Commenting on the development of the service, Legal Aid Minister Vera Baird said: "The people using Community Legal Service Direct are clearly getting the help they need. With the new operator service and additional advisers, the service will be even more user-friendly and able to help more people.

"I see telephone advice continuing to complement face-to-face advice in the future world of legal aid. It's a very direct, simple and straightforward way of connecting someone with a problem to someone with appropriate expertise and it is good value for the taxpayer."

In addition, following a tender process, the Commission recently awarded contracts for three advisers each to Morgan’s solicitors and Shelter Cymru to provide advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits issues for Community Legal Service Direct clients.

Morgans and Shelter Cymru will provide advice to callers from England and Wales but can also provide Welsh language services.

John Sirodcar, Head of Direct Services at the Legal Services Commission said: “I am delighted with the success of Community Legal Service Direct over the last year. I look forward to working in partnership with BSS and our new, highly experienced service providers to ensure that those people most at risk in our communities can access a cost effective advice system that will help them deal with their problems and play a fuller role in society”.

ENDS

Media information

Daniel Kellingley 020 7759 0415

Notes to Editors

Community Legal Service Direct consists of a national helpline (0845 345 4345), a website (http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/) and a series of 31 free printed legal information leaflets.

Telephone 0845 345 4 345

Calls cost no more than 4p per minute from a BT landline. Mobile users should check the cost with their network.
Community Legal Service Direct advisers can call clients back if they’re worried about the cost of the call.
The helpline offers a translation service for callers who do not speak English as their first language.
Deaf or hard-of-hearing callers can use Typetalk to contact the service on 180 010 845 345 4 345.

Browse http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/

Find a high quality local legal adviser or solicitor
See if you qualify for legal aid using a special calculator
Ask a question or choose a topic and link to the right place on the best advice sites in the UK
Read and print legal information leaflets
Information is available in English, Welsh, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu.
The website is fully compatible with screen readers. The content of the site is BrowseAloud enabled, allowing blind and partially sighted users without screen readers to visit the site.
The website http://www.clsdirect.org/ has been awarded the Clear English Standard by Plain Language Commission, which has vetted it for clarity and ease of use.

Last updated: 28 December 2006