The Legal Services Commission has announced the launch of a tender for the new £2.1m Community Legal Advice Centre (CLAC) in Barking & Dagenham.

The new service to provide a one-stop-shop for legal advice and representation will be jointly funded by the LSC and Barking & Dagenham Council. It will receive more than £700,000 of combined LSC and council funding per year.

The LSC will provide a total of £1,548,284 and the local council will provide £589,500 over the three years of the initial contract period.

The location of the CLAC has yet to be decided and will depend on the outcome of the tender, but the service is due to open in April 2010.

In addition to this the new centre, the service will offer outreach sessions at several locations across the borough.

Legal aid minister Lord Bach said: ‘Quality legal advice that is available and accessible at a local level is an important way of ensuring that all members of the community have access to justice.’

‘The need for legal advice in areas like housing, employment and debt inevitably increases in difficult economic times and the government remains committed to offering real help to people in need while making the best use of taxpayers’ money.’

Carolyn Regan, LSC chief executive, said: ‘The new community legal advice service really is great news for Barking and Dagenham. We are doubling the money we currently put into the borough for legal advice.

‘The council’s local knowledge, plus our expertise in funding legal advice, will come together to mean better access to justice for people in Barking and Dagenham, while ensuring best use of taxpayers money,’ she said.

The tender will close on Friday 8 January 2010, and Barking & Dagenham Council and the LSC will jointly decide on the successful bid.

More information is available from the councils website