Public Law Strategic Support
The Public Law Project has been awarded a grant by the CLS for an innovative project to assist advisers in resolving systemic local problems. The project will run for three years from April 2008 – March 2011.
Targeting systemic problems
This project involves tackling localized systemic illegality or maladministration on the part of public authorities affecting disadvantaged groups using an informed, strategic approach, focusing on a particular problem in a specific area.
We intend to target systemic problems that we anticipate being able to resolve within three to four months (or that will lead to a test case being identified within the same timescale). We will work with frontline advice agencies and / or community organisations to identify suitable issues to be taken on.
How PLP can help you
For each issue we will offer tailored in-house training, provide materials such as standard letters for advisers to use, and provide a back–up telephone consultancy service to assist in individual cases. We will help local organisations develop a strategy for the most proportionate dispute resolution process to be deployed and where appropriate we will run test case judicial review litigation, or take sample cases to the Ombudsman.
Getting results
We aim to prioritise problems that are impacting on the largest number of people (particularly those facing multiple disadvantage or problems of social exclusion) and which local advice agencies or other support groups have been unable to resolve through normal channels (e.g. complaints, meetings with the public body, local lobbying etc). We will focus on problems that have a significant knock-on effect adding to the “bundle” of problems that so many vulnerable socially-excluded clients face and, where possible, we will focus on hard-to-reach groups i.e. those who do not often access legal advice.
We anticipate that the result of this approach will be the elimination of the unlawful practices of the public body in question, benefiting not only the clients of the agencies concerned, but also many others that have not sought advice for one reason or another. Furthermore, the advisers themselves will be more aware of public law principles, and the techniques to be deployed in such circumstances, and will be able to apply them in other contexts and settings in the future, thus assisting future clients that have fallen victim to the systemic failures of a public authority.
Get in touch
Advisers or community organisations who would like assistance dealing with a particular local issue should contact c.collier@publiclawproject.org.uk or 020 7697 2197. We are very interested in hearing about any issues that you think might be suitable for strategic support.
Consultancy