Community Legal Service

The Government has set up a Community Legal Service (CLS) so that people can find legal help and advice easily and feel confident in the quality of service they get from legal service providers. The CLS replaces the old civil scheme of legal aid and aims to ensure that people can get information and help about their legal rights and understand how to enforce them in the right place and at the right time.

Community Legal Service Partnerships
The CLS has brought bringing together organisations offering legal and advice services into local networks. These networks include solicitors, Citizens' Advice Bureaux, Law Centres, local authority services (including libraries), community centres, and a host of other organisations. The networks will be organised and supported by Community Legal Service Partnerships, which are made up of representatives of the Legal Services Commission, local authorities, and other funders and providers of advice.

To find out more about the CLS and its services, see the CLS website at http://www.justask.org.uk. You can also phone 0845 608 1122 (calls charged at local rate) or minicom 0845 609 6677 to find out how to get in touch with your nearest CLS provider.

County Durham Community Legal Service Partnership
County Durham has a well established Community Legal Services Partnership set up in May 2000 and comprises the Legal Services Commission, Durham County Council, City of Durham, Wear Valley District Council, Teesdale District Council, Chester le Street District Council, Easington District Council, Sedgefield District Council, Derwentside District Council and service providers such as Citizens' Advice Bureaux and Age Concern.

Videoconferencing Project
Early in 2001 The Legal Services Commission announced a new bidding fund for local partnerships, the Partnership Innovation Budget (PIB), and the County Durham partnership has been successful in achieving over �300,000 for a 3 year videoconferencing project.

The project which began in July 2002, is being led by Information and Community Development Projects team of the Cultural Services Department, and aims to create a sustainable route to a range of legal advice and guidance services using ICT. The overall purpose of the project is to develop access to legal information resources for those who are in danger of being excluded by reason of poverty, disability, geographic location or lack of ICT skills. The project will also seek to build capacity in the use and availability of ICT to both users of the service and service providers.

Project partners are:

Durham County Council: Cultural Services; Welfare Rights; Consumer Services
District of Easington: Housing Department
Wear Valley District Council: Housing Department
Golden Freeway Project

The project is making use of videoconferencing and e-mail to enable some disadvantaged groups including people with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and women in refuges, remote access to legal information and advice, such as housing and welfare rights.

Jeanette Stephenson is the Information and Community Development Projects Officer.

Community Legal Service Quality Mark
The Quality Mark is the quality standard that underpins all CLS services, so that members of the public who need legal information, advice and other help can rely on receiving a quality assured service. Within Durham County Council, Consumer Services has been successful in achieving the quality mark to 'General Help with Casework' level; Cultural Services Department has been recently awarded 'Assisted Information' level for all 38 static libraries; Directions (part of Social Services) has been awarded 'General Help with Casework' and Welfare Rights has an application currently being processed.

Dean Grindle is the Regional Planning and Partnership Consultant for County Durham and can be contacted at:
Legal Services Commission
Eagle Star House
Fenkle Street
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 5RU

Tel: 0191 244 5972
Email: [email protected]