The Law Society has warned of ‘severe disruption’ to the supply of social welfare advice in ­Manchester if the delayed timetable for a new Community Legal Advice Service (CLAS) slips further.

The tender process for the service, jointly commissioned by the Legal Services Commission and Manchester City Council, was due to open last month but has not yet begun.

The delay is due to the LSC extending by 28 days the deadline for the first stage of the tendering process, in which firms submit pre-qualification questionnaire applications.

The LSC is to open six community legal advice centres across Manchester to deliver civil and social welfare advice under the new CLAS scheme. Firms that do not win a contract through the CLAS will be unable to do publicly funded social welfare work.

The service will receive £9m of funding over the next three years. It is scheduled to launch in October when the current civil contracts come to an end.

However, the Law Society has warned that, even without any further delay, the timetable for the launch is tight, which could pose a ‘serious risk’ to the supply of advice. It said the current civil contracts cannot lawfully be extended, which could leave clients in Manchester with no social welfare law provision at all.

Richard Miller, head of legal aid policy at the Law Society, said the delay will mean unsuccessful firms will find it harder to wind down their practices, while those that are successful will have less than three months to sign leases for premises, recruit staff and address any issues related to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations.

He said: ‘We simply don’t think it’s realistic to expect all that to be done in time. Any difficulties will mean there will either be no social welfare law supply in Manchester or very limited supply. Either way there could be severe disruption.’

The LSC gave no reason for the delay in opening the tender. A spokesman said: ‘We are still on target to open Manchester CLAS in mid-October, in line with the introduction of the new civil contracts.’