Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service

(asked on 18th October 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Section 5 of the guidance for Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service providers published by the Legal Aid Agency on 1 August 2023, what the total (a) volume and (b) value of claims arising from provision of early advice was, according to the Contact Report Forms submitted to his Department between (a) 1 and 10 August inclusive, (b) 11 August and 10 September inclusive and (c) 11 September and 10 October inclusive.


Answered by
Mike Freer Portrait
Mike Freer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 25th October 2023

On 01 August 2023, the new Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS) commenced across England and Wales. The service provides early legal advice on housing, debt and welfare benefits issues to those at risk of possession proceedings and loss of their home; and on the day emergency advice and representation at court to those with a listed possession hearing.

Individuals who require the above service do not need to meet legal aid financial eligibility rules as the service is not means tested, however, they will be required to show evidence that they are at risk of losing of their home. Up to £10m in annual funding has been made available for HLPAS.

Between 01 August and 18 October 2023, 42 requests for assistance have been submitted by service providers to the Specialist Legal Advice Support Panel.

The number of Matter Starts awarded to each HLPAS provider at the outset of the scheme can be found in the table annexed to this response. A combined total of 16,326 Matter Starts were awarded at the outset of the scheme. As of 18 October, no additional Matter Starts have been requested.

The number of In Court Duty acts of assistance awarded to each HLPAS provider at the outset of the scheme can be found in the table annexed to this response. A combined total of 43,074 acts of assistance were awarded at the outset of the scheme. As of 18 October, no additional acts of assistance have been requested.

All Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service work (including any work undertaken by agents) must be reported to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) on the HLPAS Contract Report Form. This should include details of the outcome of the case using the appropriate codes. The deadline for submissions is the 10th of the month. Payment for work done under a HLPAS Exclusive Schedule is triggered by the LAA receiving fully completed HLPAS Contract Report Forms on a monthly basis.

The LAA records information about claim submissions and payments by reference to the month in which the Contract Report Form was submitted, not the specific date upon which the Contract Report Form was received. It is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown for the periods specified in the question. 75 Contract Report Forms were submitted in August. 80 Contract Report Forms were submitted in September. The cut off for October submissions is 10 November and so we do not currently have information regarding Contract Report Forms for this period.

The volume and value of claims arising from provision of early advice, according to the Contact Report Forms submitted to the LAA is set out in the table below:

August

September

Volume of Claims

23

54

Value of Claims

£4,239

£10,182.03

Early legal advice claims are only submitted at the point the case has closed, payments are then processed and paid a month in arrears. Some providers may not submit a report every month to the LAA.

The volume and value of claims arising from provision of in court duty assistance, according to the Contact Report Forms submitted to the LAA is set out in the table below.

August

September

Volume of Claims

1665

1750

Value of Claims

£176,656.00

£182,931.64

In court duty claims are only submitted after the advice has been provided at court, payments are then processed and paid a month in arrears. Some providers may not submit a report every month to the LAA.

As of 18 October, a total of £3,673.80 has been paid to service providers in respect of the provision of early advice. A total of £149,720.57 has been paid to service providers in respect of the provision of in court duty assistance.

Payments for HLPAS work are paid a month in arrears. The response provided only covers payments in relation to August claims, which have been subject to a full validation process. The amount paid by the LAA may differ to the amount claimed if any errors or anomalies are identified. The LAA is currently processing September claims and will be making payments before the end of October. The payment information for in court duty assistance includes payments made for nil sessions i.e. where a provider attends court but no client is assisted.

The number of Contract Report Forms completed using outcome code LT (matter proceeding to possession hearing at court) between 1 August and 18 October is 6. The number of Contract Report Forms completed using outcome code LU (matter stopped on advisor’s recommendation) between 1 August and 18 October is 2.

Notes on data:

  1. The data regarding claim volume and value has been extracted from information held by the LAA on 20 October 2023.
  2. The data is Management Information manually collated by the LAA based on information received via provider submissions. Although every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete, it is important to note that the data has been extracted from data sets which require a degree of manual input. As a consequence, the data can change over time and care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when data is used.
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