Six law centres that had been at risk of closure have been taken off the Legal Services Commission’s critical list, the Law Centres Federation said this week.

The six, which include Saltley and Nechells Law Centre in Birmingham, have ‘seen significant improvements in their performance’ said the commission, which will continue to monitor their progress.

In January, the federation said that six out of 54 law centres in England and Wales were struggling to plug funding gaps (see [2009] Gazette, 15 January, 4).

The centres blame the ending of advance payments under legal aid changes in October 2007. The LSC said that some centres had not billed on time or correctly, and failed to submit ‘exceptional’ claims, chargeable at a higher rate.

The federation said the ­situation has now ‘stabilised’. Its director, Julie Bishop, said she is confident that all six will survive 2009. She added: ‘Through various bits of support and intervention law centres are coming out the other end. We have done a lot of work and more flexibility from the LSC has helped with cashflow. We are feeling positive and that is good.’