Legal advice

The idea behind the Community Legal Service (CLS) was for people to find help easily and feel confident in the quality of service they get from legal service and advice providers. The CLS aims to ensure that people can get help and information about their legal rights and understand how to enforce them in the right place and at the right time.

Community Legal Service (CSL)

The CLS run the legal aid scheme in England and Wales.  To make it easier for the public to get advice and legal help, the they bring together organisations offering advice and legal services into local networks.

Information, advice and legal representation is provided to over two million people each year access.

The Community Legal Service  helps people with civil legal problems such as family breakdown, debt and housing. The Criminal Defence Service  (CDS) helps people who are under police investigation or facing criminal charges.

Community Legal Advice

Community Legal Advice  is a free and confidential service paid for by legal aid. They are funded by the Community Legal Service  and partnerships with independent advice agencies and solicitors.

They offer service aimed at  helping people to tackle their legal problems through:

• telephone helpline
• website
• digital TV service
• centres and networks
• call back service

Their website  provides information on how to get the most out of their free and impartial services.

Consumer Support Network

Consumer advice agencies are working together as a group to develop a network plan to ensure that good quality consumer advice is accessible by the whole community. The Consumer Support Networks (CSNs) initiative, encourages consumer advice providers to join-up their services and provide consumers, wherever they live, with reliable, timely and quality assured advice.

Consumer advice needs to reflect today's complex and fast-changing marketplace. It must take account of developments such as the growth of internet shopping and the often complicated ways that goods and services are sold. We would expect advice available to cover:

• what to look out for when buying goods and services
• consumers' rights and obligations when buying goods and services
• how to obtain redress when things go wrong

Consumer Support Networks and the Community Legal Service are complementary initiatives.

For more general information see the Consumer Support Networks  website.