Pinning down precisely how many not for profit (NfP) legal advice centres there are and what they do is a difficult exercise. This is due to the eclectic mix providers and lack of overall planning in the sector. A survey of centres in England and Wales, a report on which was published by the Ministry of Justice last week, makes a decent stab at providing the sort of detailed information which has so far been lacking for policy makers. The report’s findings also reveal some uncomfortable facts, especially for the government, but also for the sector.   A total of 1,462 NfP legal advice centres were identified by the researchers, a figure which is given a prominent position in the report’s executive summary. They include Citizens Advice outlets, Law Centres and others, including those aimed at specific clients groups such as elderly people. Buried away in the body of the report though, is the statistic that there were an estimated 3,226 centres in 2005 (see page 7 of the report). The number of centres has therefore declined by over 50% in ten years. Maybe the researchers were too concerned about upsetting their political masters to draw such a conclusion.   The report does find that 54% of those surveyed were forced to make major changes to their services due to the civil legal aid cuts. In April 2013 the government slashed £89m in the legal aid available for welfare benefits, debt and housing cases. This is the bread and butter work of most of the advice centres in the survey and so it is no surprise that so many have closed or downsized in recent years.   A glaring omission from the report is a geographical analysis of the locations where advice services are available. Legal aid and other cuts have exacerbated the trend for many, especially the larger agencies, to be located in urban areas leaving advice deserts in many parts of the country. Telephone and internet services are all very well and good for the connected and literate, but not for many of the poorest people the NfP advice centres serve.   In the UK’s relatively deregulated legal services market anyone can set themselves up as a legal advisor, unless they are giving advice on immigration law or undertaking an activity which is reserved by statute for legal professionals, primarily representing in court and conducting litigation being the main ones. Despite the lack of formal regulation it is still reasonable for the public to expect good quality advice and redress when things go wrong with NfP advice services. A couple of findings in the report give cause for concern on these issues.   Nearly a quarter of providers do not have one of the commonly held quality marks for advice services and 6% have no professional indemnity insurance. These are issues which the sector really ought to deal with for the sake of their clients and to prevent government from stepping in, as it did with the legal professions with the Legal Services Act (2007).   Rather than choosing to ignore politically inconvenient statistics the government needs to identify the gaps in provision and work with the advice sector to better plan and co-ordinate services. It is to be hoped that this report from the MoJ will spark action to do this.   Steve Hynes, Director of LAG   *A version of this article appeared in The Times publication The Brief this morning.