Providing a quality service at no charge

As we do not charge fees, Barnet Law Service has to find funding elsewhere to pay staff salaries and the costs of running an office.

Many clients who are grateful for the free service they have received make donations when we have won an award for them, and we are very grateful indeed for these donations. As a charity, we are registered for Gift Aid and can reclaim tax paid by any taxpayer who donates money to us, whether they are clients or not.

BLS was fortunate to receive grant funding from Barnet Council since it was founded in 1999 and this vital funding covered the core costs of providing the service. However, this grant funding was to be phased out when Barnet Council decided to commission its Community Advice Service via a competitive tender.

In 2011 we joined with Barnet CAB to bid for a contract to deliver the Community Advice Service and are very pleased to have been awarded this, with Barnet CAB sub-contracting to BLS from January 2012 the provision of specialist legal advice, casework and representation to Barnet residents in the areas of Welfare Benefits, Employment and Immigration. Clients who need specialist legal advice in these areas will be referred to and given an appointment with a BLS adviser by Barnet CAB.

Grants from the City Bridge Trust and Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales fund the work of the Housing Law department, while a grant from the City Parochial Foundation (now Trust for London) funds a part-time Employment Law solicitor, and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission provides a grant towards some of the costs of providing casework in employment discrimination cases. The London Legal Support Trust has supported BLS for several years, with staff and volunteers taking part in the annual sponsored Walk which helps raise funds to continue to provide our core service.

BLS holds the Specialist Quality Mark from the Legal Services Commission, which is only awarded to firms who pass strict quality control procedures and are assessed as offering a quality service to clients, and we have a contract from the LSC to deliver casework in Immigration & Asylum Law and Employment Law.

In 2011 BLS successfully applied for "Transition funding" from the Cabinet Office to help BLS explore options for change in a market where public sector funding (including that from the Legal Services Commission) has reduced and is expected to reduce further.

There are many quality controls at BLS to ensure that work we do is in the best interests of our clients and that the quality of advice given is of a high standard. The Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, and BLS is a member of the Law Centres Federation and abides by the rules of the Federation. The BLS Immigration and Asylum caseworkers are all regulated by OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner).