The first law centre in North Yorkshire has helped over 700 people since it was set up only a few months ago, the Gazette has learned.
North Yorkshire Citizens Advice and Law Centre is only the fourth law centre that is also a local Citizens Advice, following in the footsteps of joint services in Kirklees, Bradford and Sheffield.
Senior solicitor Laura Holland, who previously worked at Derbyshire Law Centre, was brought in by Citizens Advice last year to set up the centre. 'We have been such an advice desert for years. The chief executive [thought] we can continue grumbling about this or we can come up with a solution for our local community,' Holland said.
With the help of grant funding, the legal department evidenced the need for legal support. North Yorkshire Citizens Advice and Law Centre was voted into the Law Centres Network last December.
North Yorkshire Citizens Advice and Law Centre's main offices are located in Harrogate, Malton, Northallerton, Richmond, Scarborough, Selby, Skipton and Whitby. The Selby and Malton branches have someone available for law centre enquiries. The law centre team covers North Yorkshire and York.
The need for face-to-face support is crucial due to the rural nature of North Yorkshire, Holland said. Phone signal can be patchy. North Yorkshire has a farming community – large pieces of land but small residential elements - which means no internet access. Residents faced a long drive or had to take several modes of transport to see their nearest legal aid provider.
North Yorkshire's law centre comprises Holland, who specialises in housing, two other housing specialists, two people in the immigration and asylum team, a discrimination specialist and a family specialist. Between April and June, the law centre dealt with 393 housing, 152 family law, 83 discrimination, and 91 immigration and asylum matters.
Holland said North Yorkshire contains lots of social housing and deprivation. The law centre has dealt with several private, social and mortgage possession cases. The team has also dealt with lots of 'succession' cases, helping tenants stay in the community they have known for years. Tenants' parents may have died, Holland explained, but housing association tenancies can only be inherited once unless the tenancy agreement allows more than one succession.
The law centre often gets people with incredibly difficult backstories and backgrounds approaching them at the last minute with their legal problems, Holland said. 'They just want help to keep their homes.'
The law centre was awarded a government contract for housing loss prevention advice services, which began this month. While there was previously a court duty service, Holland said there was no facility for wraparound work. 'One of the things I realised when I worked at Derbyshire Law Centre was that it is so important to have that organisation that can do everything.' North Yorkshire Citizens Advice and Law Centre, she said, 'can give that holistic service'.
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