Introduction

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) helps people to gain their rights under the law. It also helps them to understand the law. The funding for this work is known as legal aid. This is provided by the government. It amounts to £2 billion per year. The LSC helps people to know their rights and what steps they can take to claim their rights. It helps a weaker party against a stronger party. People may be weaker because they are poor or have been charged with an offence or have not been treated fairly. Stronger parties could be a landlord, a shop or even government bodies responsible for tax credits. Around two million people a year are helped by the LSC. Many problems involve divorce, eviction and debt. They also deal with asylum-seeking and criminal cases. Many of the main groups dealt with are very vulnerable. They include:

• the long-term sick or disabled
• lone parents
• the unemployed.

People and organisations with wealth can have access to lawyers as they can afford them. Many people believe lawyers are very expensive so out of their reach. Poorer and weaker people need support to be able to access their basic rights fairly. This is called ‘social justice’.

External factors

Many external factors are likely to affect the work of the LSC. These factors are called ‘external’ as they are outside the control of the LSC. The letters of PEST are used to list the most common factors. These are:

• Political changes such as new laws or government decisions
• Economic changes such as to levels of wealth and spending power
• Social changes and trends, for example, more older people in society
• Technological changes that customers want or need which may affect how an organisation provides its services.

Political factors

The current government decided to tackle the problem of social exclusion. This is when people are excluded from the benefits of society through no fault of their own. It is often linked to poverty, debt or poor education. The government put in a two-phase programme to help these people. The first phase had targets in justice, legal aid and human rights. The second phase has more specific targets, some directly focused on the work of the LSC.

Economic factors

In an economic downturn, there are likely to be more people losing jobs or becoming homeless who need help. This makes more work for the LSC. Because its funds are fixed, it has to try to provide the same level of service even with an increased workload. It measures its performance against its service targets.

Social and Technological factors

The LSC helps disadvantaged people to obtain their rightful benefits (such as tax credits, school places and human rights). Pressure to be efficient and to respond to the needs of the people it helps has led to the LSC adopting new technology, such as electronic billing.

Conclusion

The LSC protects people’s rights. As a public service organisation, it must do so within a budget. To continue to provide an efficient service, it must ensure it recognises and responds to the challenges caused by external factors.