Civil policy development

On this page:

Our strategy for the CLS
Our strategy for family legal aid
Our strategy for family mediation
Our work with the voluntary sector
How we research our policies

Our strategy for the CLS

Our strategy for the CLS proposes a civil legal aid system that is more:

focused on people in greatest need
co-ordinated and cost effective
able to tackle the causes of legal problems.

Our focus is especially on those people who are often excluded from accessing services that can make a real difference to their lives.

Read more on the Our strategy for the CLS page.

Our strategy for family legal aid

Making Legal Rights a Reality for Children and Families will help us to:

ensure our clients have access to quality services that meet their needs
work with providers who deliver quality, value for money and client-focused services
deliver a sustainable system.

Our focus is especially on client groups who are particularly at risk of social exclusion and who we have identified as a priority.

Read more and download our strategy for family legal aid on the Our strategy for the CLS page.

Our strategy for family mediation

Publicly Funded Family Mediation: the Way Forward focuses on 3 key areas:

value - encourage an increase in the number of family disputes resolved through mediation, as mediation can be cheaper, quicker and less acrimonious for clients.
access - improved client access to family mediation (both information and services).
quality - improve the quality and effectiveness of family mediators.

Read more and download our strategy for family mediation on the Our strategy for the CLS page.

Our work with the voluntary sector

The LSC deals with the voluntary sector in two ways:

there is a broad and wide ranging relationship in that agencies can help improve public services and engage with clients
there is a smaller group of agencies that we contract with to provide legal services.

How we research our policies

The Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC) is the independent research arm of the LSC.

A team of specialist researchers carries out strategic research in the civil and criminal justice fields. They conduct both qualitative and quantitative research and publish the findings regularly in journals, papers and books.