FAInS – what has the LSC learned?

The Family Advice and Information Service (FAInS) has been piloted since 2002. It aimed to encourage family law solicitors to create networks of local agencies to advise and support clients with a range of problems related to family breakdown – domestic violence, debt, welfare benefits, and housing. FAInS solicitors were given increased Legal Aid rates to spend more time with clients identifying their needs, referring them to other relevant services, and preparing a 'Personal Action Plan' stating what the solicitor would do, and what the client should do to resolve the most urgent problems.
 
The pilot has been evaluated by the Newcastle Centre for Family Studies and the final report on the pilot was published on the LSC website in August 2007. The evaluation is relevant beyond family law, in particular to the implementation of the CLS Strategy and the introduction of CLACs and CLANs:
 
The new directions in legal aid provision and the establishment of CLACs and CLANs all herald substantial change for lawyers. The piloting of FAInS has shown that it is not easy or straightforward to require solicitors to change the way they practise when they consider that they are already conforming to best-practice principles. Nor is it easy and straightforward to promote joined-up working through the establishment of networks of suppliers.
 
There was a strong recommendation that all major changes to the CLS should be piloted before being introduced, especially where there is no clear evidence of any benefit from the changes:
 
It may be helpful to recognise the important role pilots can play in policy implementation, particularly when the findings do not indicate the overwhelming success of a new initiative, as in the case of FAInS.
 
The report also concludes:
 
1. Solicitors are not necessarily the best people to identify and deal with non-legal problems, for two key reasons:

• Solicitors were not good at exploring non-legal problems or 'problem clusters' with clients – they tended to focus on the key legal problems
• Clients with clusters of problems were usually already in contact with the support services they needed by the time they got to see their solicitor

 
2. Clients seemed to like having a Personal Action Plan, but there was little evidence that they received a better, more tailored or more comprehensive service as a result.
 
3. FAIns-type services are unlikely to provide any cost benefit – FAInS cases were less likely to need a Legal Aid certificate, but Legal Help costs were higher.
 

Full report and executive summary