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16 October 2008 / Patrick Reeve
Issue: 7341 / Categories: Features , Legal services
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Clean bill of health

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The LSC is determined to protect vulnerable clients, says Patrick Reeve

Jon Robins’s article, “Heading for breakdown…” (NLJ, 26 September, p 1,311) makes some misleading comments about the current provision of publicly funded mental health legal services.

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is committed to helping those with mental health problems access legal advice, particularly advice and representation before the Mental Health Review Tribunal (MHRT). There is, for example, no financial eligibility test for work carried out in assisting people applying to the tribunal.

The main concern raised in the article was that the mental health standard fee scheme—implemented in January of this year—is causing providers to withdraw from mental health work, and leaving clients unable to access legal services. This was something that a few of our providers have raised with us, as the author of the article notes. We are aware of these concerns, and I would like to assure him that it is a matter that we are taking very seriously. Access to services for these vulnerable clients is a

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