A former solicitor advocate and barrister, Belinda Schwehr (pictured), is in the process of establishing a new charity to assist people with social care and health services problems. Speaking to Legal Action, Schwehr said that, at the time of writing, CASCAIDr (the Centre for Adults’ Social Care Advice, Information and Dispute Resolution) was awaiting approval by the Charity Commission. She explained that, once it is up and running, any individual over 16 with a problem concerning ‘assessment, eligibility or care planning’ will be able to obtain advice. At the core of the new service will be the drafting of letters before action to local councils, which, Schwehr said, are ignorantly or cynically failing in their duties under the Care Act 2014 to adults with enforceable public law legal rights.

Schwehr currently specialises in training local councils and providers on community care law, and also blogs and writes widely on the subject. She told Legal Action that she expects the charity to be drafting 10 to 15 pre-action letters per week. The letters will be written by Care Act 2014-trained and -aware advisers paid at a flat rate, direct public access barristers and by solicitors acting pro bono, so that the specialism remains of financial interest to young lawyers. According to Schwehr, she has ‘10 barristers interested in assisting in giving opinions on the merits of potential judicial review cases’. Where councils do not respond to the letters before action, she intends to refer people likely to be eligible for legal aid to solicitors who wish to assist them.

For non-eligible clients with potentially arguable test cases, the charity will raise money through the crowdfunding website CrowdJustice to bring judicial review proceedings, sometimes joining in as a party so that the issue is not ‘bought off’ at the last minute. The charity will also offer memberships and an advisory service that will charge affordable fees to providers and advocacy organisations to increase the funds available for the assistance of non-legal aid eligible clients. Volunteers and aspiring advisers will be able to sign up on a dedicated website but, in the meantime, for more information, see Schwehr’s blog site.