Ministry Of Justice
What is the Early Legal Advice Pilot?
The Early Legal Advice Pilot (ELAP) is a 5 million HMT Shared Outcomes Fund (SOF) project to test the expansion of legal aid. It seeks to evaluate the possible benefits of holistic, legally aided advice in encouraging early resolution for individuals, and to quantify downstream benefits to central and local government.
As part of the pilot, selected participants will receive up to 3 hours of non-means and non-merits tested legal advice for housing, debt, and welfare benefit matters. The pilot will be delivered in Manchester and Middlesbrough and independently evaluated.
ELAP is a part of the Ministry of Justices (MOJ) wider ambition to test what works, and for whom, so we can ensure legal aid is available for those who need it. It was one of a range of commitments set out in the Legal Support Action Plan, which aims to identify the best ways to empower individuals to resolve their legal problem at earlier stages in their journey. This is a priority outcome for MOJ.
The pilot scheme was introduced by the Early Legal Advice Pilot Scheme Order 2022 (Order), which modified Schedule 1 to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) to bring civil legal services for certain housing, debt, and welfare benefits issues in scope of legal aid for the purposes of the pilot scheme. The Order also modifies secondary legislation to make work delivered as part of the pilot scheme non-means and non-merits tested and introduces a new fee to remunerate providers delivering work in the pilot scheme.
What it hopes to achieve
The first phase of the pilot, commencing 31st October 2022, is an initial testing phase. This is to gather key data about the pilots target population, their legal problems and the support they require, and capture the reflections and challenges of providers participating in the pilot. It will also seek to capture initial indications of how far outcomes might improve for individuals seen under the pilot such as whether this results in financial security, reduced distress and improved legal capability. Information from the testing phase will be used to help shape the pilot design going forward.
How it will work on the ground
ELAP will test the expansion of legal aid by funding in-person or remote advice services for certain housing, debt and welfare benefit matters, currently outside the scope for legal aid under LASPO.
The pilot enables selected participants to receive up to 3 hours of non-means and non-merits tested early legal advice for housing, debt, and welfare benefit matters. Participants will be eligible to receive these services irrespective of whether their matters fall into one of these categories, or all the categories. This is to see if it gives them better chance of resolving their legal problems and stop them from falling into further difficulties such as homelessness. The new service will be offered to residents in Manchester and Middlesbrough who have fallen behind on their council tax.
Following recommendations from an independent feasibility study, a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) design will be used to evaluate the pilot, to collect robust data on the impact of the scheme. The pilot scheme will be launched as an initial five-month phase to test this design and process. This phase will be evaluated to understand and review how pilot scheme and RCT delivery is working.
The evaluation will be undertaken by an independent evaluator appointed by MOJ. This is a consortium led by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) that is comprised of experts from WPI Economics, The Centre for Homelessness Impact and the Legal Education Foundation.
The Early Legal Advice Pilot Scheme launches in Manchester and Middlesbrough the week commencing 31 October until 31 March 2023, with a final evaluation report expected in Summer 2023.
Documents
The Early Legal Advice Pilot Scheme Order 2022