History and Funding of Law Centres

“The impact of Law Centres has been out of all proportion to their size, the number of lawyers who work in them and to the amount of work it is possible for them to undertake. The volume of work they have attracted has shown how deep is the need they are attempting to meet.”

This was the verdict on Law Centres given in the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Legal Services back in 1979.

The idea of providing free access to legal advice was first raised in a report by the Rushcliffe Committee on Legal Aid and Legal Advice in 1945 which suggested setting up legal advice centres.  However the Legal Aid and Advice Act of 1949 gave preference to solicitors in private practice giving legal aid advice.  See Legal_Aid.pdf .

The problem of providing legal services through traditional outlets became evident over the years.  Legal aid was conceived of in narrow terms, as individual casework, rather than education, information, group work and law reform.  Some of the problems identified were:

  • There were too few lawyers with knowledge of the areas of law affecting the poor and disadvantaged
  • There was lack of access, in terms of location, language and physical accessibility
  • There was no legal aid for important areas of work, for example, tribunal representation.

Why Law Centres were set up

Law Centres were established because the legal aid scheme had failed to address the legal needs of the poor and disadvantaged. 

They also arose in the wake of the growth of “neighbourhood law offices” in the United States. They formed the basis for the concept of a national system of salaried lawyers providing legal services for people who did not have the means to pay for them.

These two factors generated activity which culminated in the opening of North Kensington Law Centre, in London on 17th July 1970.  To celebrate reaching eighteen years, North Kensington Law Centre published “Coming of Age” which said of Law Centres :

“The service provided at such a Centre would be analogous to that provided by the traditional family doctor. Thus the lawyers working there would become accepted as part of the community, which would help break down the anxiety prevalent among poor people and likely to inhibit them from obtaining help even though they have a good case.  We hope to bring about some degree of informality consistent with efficiency and we visualise visits being arranged where the social or legal circumstances require them.  The Centre would also endeavour to provide a service in the evenings, and at weekends, which for many people are the only convenient times for them to visit it.”

Law Centres were set up to overcome the obstacles faced by people who need access to the legal system.  Free, publicly provided legal advice should be available to everyone, not just to those with financial resources or to those few that can get legal aid because of their income.  There are many of areas of law where legal aid is simply not available, such as for representation at Employment Tribunals.  This means that even in areas where fundamental rights are in dispute there is no access to the legal system. 

The Growth of Law Centres

North Kensington Law Centre, Brent Community Law Centre and Adamsdown Law Centre in Cardiff were the first three Law Centres to be established. This was followed by a period of expansion, with the number of Law Centre varying between 50 and 60 over the last 10 years.

In recent years several new Law Centres have been set up.  In 2001, the Devon Law Centre was established.  Since then 7 more Law Centre have been established:  Enfield and the Streetwise Law Centre in London, Kirklees, Rotherham, Surrey, and three in the Greater Manchester area – Bury, Stockport and Trafford.  The Isle of Wight Law Centre also came joined the Federation during this period. Unfortunately, Enfield, Rotherham and Stockport have now closed.

Law Centre Funding

The major obstacle to Law Centres over the years has been funding.  North Kensington originally received grants from charitable trusts and donations. It was not until 1973 that the first public funds were provided in the form an Urban Aid grant from the Department of the Environment.  In 1974 the first grants were made available by local authorities.  In the following year the Lord Chancellor’s Department extended a “financial lifeboat” to some Law Centres who had been dependent on short-term charitable funds.

In November 1978, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Elwyn-Jones in support of Law Centres, suggested six guidelines.  The first of these stressed the importance of Law Centre independence.  The principle of the independence of Law Centres from their funding bodies has remained fundamental for the Centres movement.

During the 1980’s, Law Centre funding was either cut completely or considerably eroded. This has meant that more Law Centres have had to rely on income from the Legal Services Commission.  This pattern continued throughout the nineties and continues today.  Law Centres have looked for new funding streams from regeneration programmes and from charities such as The Big Lottery.

A more rational proposal for the funding of Law Centres was included in the 1999 Access to Justice Act.  Under the Community Legal Service, partnership funding has been encouraged.  This includes funding under contract from the Legal Services Commission and funding from the local authority(s).  Whilst the mechanism for future funding has been proposed, there is no commitment to guarantee an increase in funding for Law Centres.

The total income of Law Centres in England and Wales is in the region of £15million.  Over half of this funding comes from the Legal Services Commission.