Written by: Caroline Langdell, Senior Programmes Manager
The Centres of Excellence (COEx) Annual Report 2025 brings together data and insight from our 42 partners, all specialist free legal advice organisations working at the sharpest end of demand. Drawing on reflections from across the partnership, the report offers an up to date picture of the current operating environment for the advice sector — and what is needed to sustain it.
The findings will not surprise those working in the sector. But taken together, they reinforce a stark message: the pressures facing advice organisations are systemic, long‑term and intensifying, and cannot be addressed by organisational resilience alone.
The report highlights several consistent trends across our COEx partners.
Pressure is rising, complexity is deepening
Demand for advice continues to rise, with more people seeking urgent help for complex legal problems linked to poverty, insecurity and wider structural inequality. At the same time, cases appear to be becoming more complex and time‑intensive, often involving multiple, overlapping legal issues and clients with additional support needs.
Alongside this, organisations continue to face unstable and fragmented funding, making long‑term planning difficult and increasing reliance on short‑term income. Workforce pressures continue, with challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled staff, growing levels of burnout, and limited capacity to invest in development.
These pressures interact and compound one another: higher demand and complexity stretch already limited capacity, while funding and staffing instability undermine the very resilience organisations are expected to rely on.
Resilience, commitment and impact — despite the constraints
Alongside these challenges, the report also demonstrates the extraordinary commitment, expertise and adaptability of specialist advice organisations.
COEx partners continue to deliver high‑quality, life‑changing legal advice in extremely difficult conditions. They innovate, collaborate and find ways to reach clients who are often excluded from other forms of support. This resilience matters — but the report is clear that it has limits.
Sustaining free legal advice cannot rest indefinitely on organisational goodwill, stretching staff, or absorbing risk that should perhaps sit elsewhere.
What needs to change: key messages and recommendations
The evidence points to several clear conclusions.
First, organisational resilience alone is not enough. Without stable policy environments, funding that reflects the true cost of delivering complex advice, and systems that support rather than obstruct access to justice, internal efforts will continue to be undermined.
Second, the report reinforces the need for long‑term, flexible funding. Unrestricted funding, delivered over multiple years and grounded in trust, enables organisations to respond effectively to demand, invest in their people and plan sustainably.
Third, the findings underline the importance of support beyond funding alone. Access to tailored organisational consultancy, learning and peer support plays a critical role in strengthening governance, leadership, financial resilience and strategic capacity.
Finally, the report calls for a stronger, more confident shared narrative about free legal advice. Advice services are not a discretionary add‑on: they are essential social infrastructure that prevents crisis, protects rights, and reduces pressure on public systems. Securing long‑term sustainability requires funders, policymakers and the sector to work together to reinforce this case, grounded in evidence, impact and lived experience.
From insight to action
The COEx Annual Report is not an academic exercise. Its findings directly inform how we design funding, support and learning — and how we advocate for a more sustainable future for the advice sector.
The learning in this year's report is shaping the next phase of our work, including the development of the Legal Advice Sustainability Scheme (LASS), which builds on the strengths of COEx while responding to the realities set out in the evidence.
We are deeply grateful to COEx partners for their openness, insight and continued commitment to working collectively under pressure. This report exists because of their time, expertise and willingness to share what is really happening on the ground.