Citizens Advice service and publicly funded legal services
Access to justice – the ability to enforce our civil rights – is vital within a fair society. More than one in three adults has experienced a civil law problem and publicly funded legal services are at the heart of a solution.
The Citizens Advice service provides vital legal support across the whole civil justice system. Around 250 bureaux have contracts with the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to provide legal advice to people with debt, welfare benefits, housing, employment and immigration issues.
To read more examples of legal support offered by Citizens Advice, see below or our publication:
Benefits advice
Challenging welfare benefit decisions and representing claimants at appeal tribunals is a large part of CAB legal advice work.
 | Caseworker Gary Martin manages the Legal Services Commission (LSC) welfare benefits contract at Walthamstow CAB in east London. Benefit problems make up 31% of the bureau’s work and he has calculated that he has raised £1.5million in unclaimed benefits, one-off payments and retained overpayments in a three-year period. This money lifts people out of poverty and boosts the local economy. “There is a huge satisfaction in helping someone to turn their life around, to really make a positive impact.”
Benefits caseworker Gary Martin. |
Helping the homeless
Homelessness is often a symptom of another issue, such as debt, offending or drug and alcohol dependency. Bureaux helps clients tackle the problem on all fronts, providing appropriate support.
Over one in ten of all problems brought to bureaux are concerned with housing or homelessness. Many bureaux have Legal Service Commission (LSC) contracts to provide legal advice to tenants and homeowners.
Wigan and Leigh CAB has been funded to develop homeless services in the brought. With other advice agencies, the bureau takes a lead in developing preventative work to stop people reaching the point where they come homeless.
Immigration issues
About 20 Citizens Advice Bureaux in the England and Wales hold LSC contracts to give immigration advice and representation.
Gromyko Amedu is a specialist immigration adviser at Pimlico CAB in London. She is representing a teenage girl from Burundi who fled her country after her parents were massacred during the conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. Her initial asylum application was rejected by the Home Office, on the grounds that she did not have a “well-founded” fear of persecution. Gromyko has now got the Immigration Appeals Tribunal to discuss the case further.
Shanin Rahman, is training at Oldham CAB as an immigration solicitor, thanks to a grant from the LSC. The bureau has set up a training plan for Shanin to meet Law Society standards. "It's a real challenge, but I'm enjoying it. I decided to pursue a career in legal aid as I felt I would be making a real difference to people's lives. The best way is to channel that is by working for the CAB."
Shanin Rahman, trainee immigration solicitor. | 
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Debt counselling
Many people experience debt. Citizens Advice dealt with over one million new debt cases during 2002-3. Nearly 200 bureaux have been awarded LSC contracts to deliver legal advice on debt matters.
Within Northumberland, NMA Money Advice is part of an LSC-funded pilot, giving telephone-based debt advice. The aim is to improve access to legal services for several groups, including older people, those with disabilities and their carers and people living in isolated rural areas.
Roger Martin, 48, lives in rural East Anglia and has been on disability benefits for ten years due to mobility problems. Roger’s debt problems started when he bought a satellite dish on credit. He found he was being offered more and more loans an credit cards and soon had debts amounting to around £24,000.
Roger contacted his CAB, which held an LSC contract to give debt-related legal advice. The advisor took over the paperwork and talked to Roger's creditors. She suggested that for the long-term benefit of his health, Roger should declare himself bankrupt.
“They explained step-by-step what my options were, and reassured me,” says Roger. “It was only when we saw the judge going through everything in the court, that I realized how much work the CAB had done on my behalf.”
Health check
Ill health and social exclusion are inextricably linked and the appropriate advice at the right time can prevent a potential problem developing into a crisis.
Flintshire District CAB, is funded through the LSC partnership Initiative Budget to raise awareness among primary care workers of clients who may have a non-medical solution like bad housing or serious debt, and refer them to a CAB.
"We know that a person's economic and social circumstances are probably the strongest influence on their health and avoidable sickness," says Salli Edwards, district manager. "Once they've [primary health care workers] identified a need, they can refer that client to us and we can make sure they are getting the support they need across a whole range of services."
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