New jobs will be brought to Clevedon following the news that North Somerset Council’s support services partner Agilisys has secured a contract with the Legal Aid Agency to deliver contact centre services on its behalf.
Agilisys will deliver the Civil Legal Advice (CLA) Operator Service digitally and over the phone in a contract worth approximately £5.7m over three years, with the option to extend for a further two.
This new contact centre operation will run from Agilisys’ South-West customer services hub in North Somerset, bringing 50 new jobs to the area by January 2015, with recruiting for many of the posts beginning immediately.
The CLA Operator Service is a helpline funded by legal aid; it provides a triage service to determine whether individuals qualify for legal aid. Those who qualify can access free and confidential legal advice in England and Wales in areas of law including: benefit appeals; debt, if your home is at risk; special educational needs; housing; and discrimination issues.
Today’s news follows the announcement at the beginning of July that 30 additional jobs will be brought to Weston-super-Mare after Agilisys secured a contract with Westminster City Council to provide its customer contact centre and back office customer service operations.
When North Somerset Council entered into a contract with Agilisys in October 2010 to provide support services on the council’s behalf, the company committed to bringing new jobs to the area. Agilisys has already brought more than 225 new jobs to North Somerset, out of a planned 250 over the length of the contract.
Cliff Graham, Agilisys Regional Director said: “We are delighted to bring even more new jobs to North Somerset – 80 new posts announced in the last two months alone – and look forward to working with the Legal Aid Agency to deliver an excellent service to citizens which is essential to the fair, effective and efficient operation of the civil justice systems in the UK. This announcement builds on Agilisys’ success in providing customer services from our service centres in Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon, which have grown significantly since opening in partnership with North Somerset Council in 2010.”
Cllr Nigel Ashton, Leader of the Council, added: “It’s great news for North Somerset that Agilisys are bringing even more new jobs to the area. This announcement supports our commitment to work with our partners to strengthen the local economy. The added benefit for local residents is the additional jobs and income that will be generated from hosting the service centre from council buildings.”
After an initial implementation period, Agilisys expects to be delivering services for the Legal Aid Agency, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, from September 2014 as part of a phased transition.
