The Law Society has warned that Manchester’s new community legal advice service (CLAS) will drive small legal aid firms out of the market, and make conflicts of interest hard to avoid.

Following a tender process that overran by nearly two months, the Legal Services Commission and Manchester City Council last week announced the five organisations that will run the service.

Manchester Citizens Advice Bureau won the contract, in conjunction with Shelter, local law firms Glaisyers and Platt Halpern, and Cheetham Hill Advice Centre.

The service will operate from six sites and outreach locations throughout the city, to provide a range of general legal advice, plus specialist advice on debt, housing, welfare benefits, community care and family law.

Firms that are not part of the consortium will still be able to provide limited legal aid services, but in reality it may not be commercially viable to do so.

Law Society president Linda Lee expressed concern about the impact of the CLAS on local firms, and ensuring that clients are able to find representation. ‘The service will eclipse in size the many smaller firms already providing services to social welfare clients,’ she said. ‘Because of this, we’ll see a monopoly in the market, putting the commercial viability of smaller firms at stake.

‘With the advice service operating out of six separate sites across Manchester, conflict of interest issues are going to be hard to avoid.’

Law Society council member Rodney Warren said: ‘The creation of community legal advice centres, politically and structurally, is a major error.

‘In Manchester, there is no difficulty in people finding legal advice – the CLAS is change for change’s sake, in circumstances where there’ll be reduced access to justice.’

A LSC spokesman said the Manchester CLAS would deliver ‘joined-up legal services’. He added: ‘Two law firms will deliver family law, but clients will also be able to get help from at least five other family law practitioners in the city. Therefore, clients will have real choice and conflicts of interest will be catered for.’

Meanwhile, the LSC and Wakefield Council this week announced that local firm Switalskis and Wakefield Citizens Advice Bureau have won the £3m three-year contract to run the district’s new CLAS, which will open in October.