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Lord Chancellor's Department
Press Notice
6 March 2000

 

PIONEERS LAY FOUNDATIONS FOR COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICE TO BUILD ON

The Community Legal Service (CLS) received a further boost with the publication of the report on the six Pioneer Partnerships.

The experience of the pioneer areas has shown that the CLS can bring the different funders and providers of legal and advice services together effectively. Better links and understanding lead to improved planning and access to services for those who need information and help but are often unsure who to turn to.

The pioneer areas were reviewed in a report prepared by Richard Moorhead, Senior Research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, the University of London. The findings will provide the basis for Best Practice Guidance for Community Legal Service Partnerships which will be published in draft for consultation when the Community Legal Service is launched on 3 April.

Richard Moorhead presented his findings at a seminar chaired by Professor Hazel Genn. Speaking about the report, David Lock MP, Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department said "The results are very pleasing. It was heartening to see that even in the short period of time the pioneer schemes were in operation those taking part reported improvements. Any partnership needs good communication and mutual respect, and it was clear that in the pioneer areas old barriers were broken down to reach a common goal of providing quality services.

"I pay tribute to the progressive local authorities who agreed to take part in blazing a trail for others to follow, and to providers of advice in the private, public and voluntary sector who joined together to make their services complementary not competitive."

There were six pioneer areas in the exercise. They were: Cornwall, Kirklees, Liverpool, Norwich, Nottinghamshire and Southwark. In each area a lead local authority forged links with the Legal Aid Board and other funders and providers to assess local needs and identify strengths and gaps in local advice services.

The review found that joint planning and better communications led to greater understanding of respective roles and responsibilities, enabling those seeking help to be directed to those who could help them more speedily and effectively.

David Lock concluded "The Pioneer Partnerships are to be congratulated. They have given us a firm foundation for the CLS. The report by Richard Moorhead has provided very important findings and they will form the basis of our guidance."

Notes for Editors

1. The report 'Pioneers in Practice: the Community Legal Service Pioneer Project research Report' can be obtained from the Lord Chancellor's Department (telephone 0171 210 8565).

2. In addition to the six pioneer areas, a further 44 associate pioneer areas helped to pool information and ideas for improving legal advice in their localities.

3. The Community Legal Service will be launched on 3 April 2000.

4. Richard Moorhead is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (telephone 0171 637 1731). He has for a number of years conducted research into legal services, including legal aid franchising and legal aid block contracting, and the legal professions generally. He is a qualified solicitor.

5. Hazel Genn BA, LLB, LLD is Professor of Socio-Legal Studies in the Law Faculty of University College London (previously Professor and Head of the Department of Law at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London). She has a long-standing research interest in civil justice and has published widely in the field including; Tribunals and Informal Justice (1992); Personal Injury Compensation: How Much is Enough? (1994); Survey of Litigation Costs for the Woolf Inquiry into Access to Justice (1996); Understanding Civil Justice (1997); Central London County Court Mediation Scheme: Evaluation Report (1998). Her most recent publication is Paths to Justice: What People Do and Think about Going to Law which reports the findings of a national survey of public response to civil disputes.

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