ABOUT THE LEGAL SERVICES RESEARCH CENTRE
The Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC) is the independent research division of the Legal Services Commission. It was set up in 1996 to inform legal aid policy and the implementation of reform. It has a broad remit to conduct strategic research in civil and criminal justice, and related social policy fields.
Over recent years, the LSRC has made a critical contribution to the development of the Legal Services Commission’s functions, and has influenced all main aspects of the delivery of legal aid – from civil and criminal contracting, to means testing, to the development of outreach and integrated service models. The LSRC also monitors the impact of legal aid reform on the diversity of the legal aid supplier base and regularly contributes to the Legal Services Commission’s Regulatory Impact Assessments.
The LSRC conducts quantitative and qualitative empirical research, along with theoretical analysis of the political, social and philosophical underpinnings of publicly funded legal services.
Details of current projects, including the English and Welsh Civil and Social Justice Survey, the LSRC’s study of Users’ Perspectives of the Criminal Justice Process and the Evaluation of Community Legal Advice Centres and Networks, are set out on the PROJECTS pages. Details of past projects are also included in an archive section of these pages.
Details of the many books, reports, articles and fact sheets produced by the LSRC are set out on the PUBLICATIONS pages.
Information on LSRC events, including our biennial international research conference, is set out on the EVENTS pages.
The LSRC comprises 6 (5.4 FTE) expert social scientists and a research administrator/assistant. We also regularly collaborate with research organisations and expert academics in delivering our projects. Organisational research partners have included BMRB Social Research, Ipsos-MORI, ECOTEC, the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Academics the LSRC has worked with have included Professor Dame Hazel Genn (UCL), Professor Roger Bowles (York), Mavis Maclean (Oxford), Professor Robert Dingwall (Nottingham), Professor Richard Moorhead (Cardiff), Professor Michael Noble (Oxford), Professor Simon Wessely (KCL), Professor Chris Fox (MMU), Dr Amy Iversen (KCL), Dr Lisa Webley (Westminster) and Dr Jo Miles (Cambridge). The LSRC also maintains an Ethical Advisory Board and other research advisory groups.
The LSRC is helping to train and develop the next generation of socio-legal researchers through its internship.
