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Lord Chancellor's Department
Press Notice
22 March 2000

COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICE TAKES TO THE ROAD

Plans to make it easier for people to find legal advice are being presented in a series of regional conferences led by Government Ministers. The conferences have been taking place throughout February and will continue in March, preceding the official launch of the Community Legal Service (CLS) on 3 April.

David Lock MP, Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor's Department, will be attending the final conference in Reading on Thursday 23 March. The Conferences, organised jointly by the Legal Aid Board and the Local Government Association, have been encouraging representatives from local authorities to get involved in the CLS in their region.

- Our intention is that the public should have much better access to good quality legal advice so that they can resolve disputes, enforce their rights effectively, or seek the protection of the courts" said Mr Lock. -It is no good a person having rights in theory, if they do not know what they are, or how to use them, and they have no idea where to turn for advice."

- The Community Legal Service will help to do this through creating local networks of legal services, based on local needs and priorities, and dealing with matters that most affect peoples' everyday lives, such as debt problems, housing or entitlement to benefits. These have not been traditional areas of legal aid spending."

The CLS initiative sprang from the recognition that many people currently cannot find the information or advice they need when faced with these kinds of legal problem. A key part of the initiative is to bring together the funders of advice services (including the Legal Aid Board and local authorities) with advice providers - solicitors and advice agencies - in Community Legal Service Partnerships.

Local partnerships will identify local needs for legal advice, and set local priorities to ensure funds are directed at the areas of greatest need. There will be a CLS 'Quality Mark' that will identify the legal advisers who provide good quality advice and information. A CLS website will be established to give people direct access to good practical, on-line information for a range of legal and related issues, and to signpost them to organisations who can offer help face to face.

- Fifty local partnerships are already in place across England and Wales. Together they cover a total of more than 25% of the population," said Mr Lock. "This series of conferences, organised by the Legal Aid Board and the Local Government Association, has provided the ideal opportunity to spread the word about the Community Legal Service, and bring justice closer to everybody's home."

 

Notes for Editors

1. The CLS Conference will take place between 10:30am - 2:30pm on 23 March 2000 in The Town Hall, Reading. Requests for interviews/photocalls with Mr Lock should be made to David Liddemore at the Lord Chancellor's Department Press Office . To attend the conference please contact Diane Robson at the Legal Aid Board, Reading (0118 958 9696).

2. The Conference is to be chaired by Phillip Ely, a member of the Legal Aid Board and Chair of the Southern Regional Legal Services Committee. In addition to Mr Lock and Mr Ely, speakers at the Conference will include: Jane Griffiths, MP for Reading East; Brian Briscoe, Chief Executive, Local Government Association; Richard Buxton, the Operations Director of the Legal Aid Board; and Rachel Anderson, football agent and champion of the CLS.

3. Regional conferences have taken place in Newcastle on 26 November, Cambridge on 3 February, Kegworth on the 8 February, Manchester on 14 February, Wales on 23 February, Leeds on 2 March, Taunton on 9 March and London on 14 March.

4. The CLS Website will include an electronic version of the CLS Directory which will enable people to locate organisations that can offer assistance face to face or on the telephone. Paper versions of the Directory will be used by CLS suppliers and other information providers to enable people to find places where they can get relevant help and information.

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