What is CLS Support?
CLS Support User Guide (PDF document)
CLS Support is run by the Advice Services Alliance (ASA), the representative body of independent national advice networks in the UK. We provide independent information and guidance to advice organisations participating in the Community Legal Service (CLS) in England and Wales. This includes help on:
- operating the Unified Contract
- interpreting Unified Contract requirements
- CLS Quality Mark issues
We run a telephone and e-mail consultancy service and provide training to organisations. We produce publications on Contracting and related requirements, and also provide regular updates through an email bulletin service.
About our services
Consultancy
CLS Support operates a telephone and e-mail consultancy service, providing help on contracting issues and other aspects of the Community Legal service.
The telephone consultancy service is available to subscribers on 0845 241 2588 and is open 1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Monday to Friday.
We answer enquiries at first contact wherever possible. If we need to carry out further research in order to answer your enquiry, we will tell you when we can get back to you and will contact you at that time even if a full response is not yet possible. If we need to send you written information, we will normally do so within five working days.
Alternatively, if you are a subscriber you can email us on cls.support@asauk.org.uk with your enquiry. Please include a contact telephone number so that we can call you back to discuss the details of your enquiry. We aim to respond to e-mail enquiries within five working days.
Training
We run an annual national training programme and all of our courses attract CPD hours.
Subject to project resources and agreement over price, we will on request put on training courses for organisations or groups of organisations, organised on a block-booking basis.
Seminars and workshops
Subject to project resources and agreement over price, we will, on request, and within our capacity, run seminars and workshops for groups of organisations.
Briefings
CLS Support produces briefings relating to the operation of the Community Legal Service in England and Wales. Our Contracting briefings provide practical guidance on the Legal Aid contract to help organisations interpret and apply contract rules. We can also help with queries relating to the Specialist and General Help Quality Marks.
Extra copies of individual briefings are available from us at £10 per briefing. Alternatively, we will on request provide you with pdfs of briefings for no additional charge.
The Bulletin
CLS Support's email bulletin service provides regular updates on issues relating to contracting issues and the Quality Mark. The service is an invaluable supplement to our written briefings, and offers subscribers:
- up-to-date information on changes to or clarification of LSC requirements
- guidance and examples of best practice
- information on forthcoming policy developments
- updates on the work of ASA and CLS Support
- opportunities to provide feedback on issues of interest or concern.
If you have any suggestions for future email bulletins, please email us at bulletin@asauk.org.uk with your suggestions.
You can subscribe to the email Bulletin in the Users Area
How to access our services
CLS Support is provided as an ASA membership service to:
- ASA members and associate members
- organisations in England and Wales belonging to the following advice networks: adviceuk; Age uk; Citizens Advice; DIAL UK (Part of SCOPE); Law Centres Federation; Shelter; Shelter Cymru; and Youth Access.
If your organisation falls into one of these categories, you can use our consultancy service and obtain our briefings and email bulletins without taking out a separate paid subscription.
Other organisations
Organisations that are not ASA members or advice network members in England and Wales can take out a paid subscription to CLS Support. This gives you access to our consultancy service, briefings and email bulletins and costs £200 + VAT.
Once you have subscribed to our service, you will receive our Bulletins and any other publications as they are produced.
You will also receive advanced notice of our Training Programme, workshops and other events.
Other sources of support
A number of organisations offer help and support on the Quality Mark and/or Legal Aid contracts, including the Legal Services Commission and our member networks.
If we are unable to meet a request to run a training course, seminar or workshop, we will provide you with details of alternative sources of support.
User feedback
We want our services to be relevant and responsive to the needs of users, and we encourage you to give us your views on ways to improve delivery and content.
We also welcome general feedback, so please contact us on cls.support@asauk.org.uk if you have any comments and suggestions.
We operate a complaints procedure for users who are dissatisfied with access to service, how the service is delivered or the quality of service provided. Any complaints are recorded in accordance with our procedure and are reviewed regularly by the CLS Support Director.
Project Information
Contributing to policy
ASA represents the advice networks in discussions with the LSC and other government bodies concerning the development of the Legal Aid contracting and other aspects of the CLS. CLS Support gathers and analyses information drawn from users' enquiries to feed into this process.
Confidentiality
We treat all information provided to us as confidential, and we will never divulge it to any third party in a form that may identify your organisation without your prior permission.
Equal opportunities and access to services
We aim to provide a service that is accessible to all our users. Please contact us if you require briefings in a different format such as on disk or large print, or if you have any other difficulties accessing our services.
Funding and independence
CLS Support is funded by the LSC, which checks the factual accuracy of our briefings before publication. The service we provide is independent of the LSC.
Project staff and consultants
CLS Support Director - Kem Herbert
Project Adviser - Audrey MacDonald
Project Adviser - Liz Plummer
Project Consultant - Patrick Torsney
Training Administrator - Jane George
