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A joint press release with Citizens Advice Scotland |
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Rural areas to get better services from CABx
Thursday 21 March 2002
Getting legal advice from a Citizens Advice Bureau in the Highlands and Islands will be easier from now on, thanks to a project initiated by bureaux umbrella body Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) and the Scottish Legal Aid Board.
The project is one of four pilots in a programme pioneering new approaches to delivering legal advice and improving access to justice. Solicitors employed directly by the Scottish Legal Aid Board will work in partnership with local advice giving organisations.
JEAN COUPER, Chairman of the Scottish Legal Aid Board, said:
"The aim is to make legal advice more accessible by adapting to non-traditional legal settings and delivering services in new and different ways. The projects will provide new, innovative and much wanted services to the communities they serve, while giving the Board and others a unique insight into different ways of providing legal advice."
Working from the CAS Inverness office, IAN DICKSON, a solicitor employed by the Board, will give training and support to CAB advisers in six Citizens Advice Bureaux in Caithness, Ross and Cromarty, Nairn, Moray, Skye and the Western Isles, operating across 13 locations.
He will provide expert advice and support to bureaux staff by telephone and email, as well as training to advisers and partner agencies in legal skills such as case-diagnosis and representation. He will also act for clients in cases of particular interest to their local communities.
Before moving to Inverness with his family to take up this innovative post in February, IAN was a partner in a solicitors firm in Lanark. Asked how he saw his role in developing the CAS project, he said:
"I'm looking forward to working with CAS and helping local CABx to provide a better service to their clients. CABx are increasingly having to deal with complex questions relating to legal issues, welfare benefits and employment law, and this is often especially difficult in rural areas.
"I also want to ensure that whatever their problem, clients get access to the best source of advice, whether that be their local Citizens Advice Bureau or solicitor. So an important part of the job will be to build partnerships with local firms and work with them and the bureaux to make this happen.
"As well as giving help to the volunteers in the bureaux, we expect there will be cases that are particularly significant to the wider local community, and acting in such cases will, we hope, contribute to local or national policy in that area."
CAROL GREER, CAS advisory officer, who works with the six bureaux, welcomed Ian's arrival in Inverness:
"Ian's appointment will further underpin the high quality service that these bureaux already provide free to the public. In particular, clients with complex consumer credit and debt problems will benefit from the expertise that Ian brings to the post. He will also use his experience to train advisers in vital skills such as negotiation and representation."
The Scottish Executive has given the Scottish Legal Aid Board additional funding of £250,000 pa which has led to the creation of the pilot projects. They have evolved within the commencement of key legislation - Part V of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 - and the pilots are therefore known as "Part V (five) Projects."
Last year the Board invited interested organisations to submit proposals and over 40 submissions were made from across Scotland. The successful projects were announced in October 2001 at a prestigious event attended by around 150 people, including the then Deputy Justice Minister Iain Gray.
In addition to the CAS pilot, asylum seekers in Glasgow, socially excluded people in West Lothian and rough sleepers and young people in Edinburgh will benefit from the other three pilot projects.
Jean Couper, Chairman of the Scottish Legal Aid Board said:
"Although a welcome initiative in their own right, these projects should be seen as part of the wider development of community legal services. Solicitors and advice organisations continue to serve their local communities well. Through the pilots we will evaluate different methods of improving access to justice. The information gained will be invaluable in the development of community legal services in Scotland, building upon the strengths and variety of present provisions, through new partnerships, new initiatives and new services.
"This combination of projects offers a chance to explore innovative methods of providing advice services in a range of situations and to let us consider what difference, for example, solicitors working in non-traditional settings, or providing support to advisers can make to helping people with their legal problems."
For further information, please contact:
CAS - IAN BROWN, CAS press and communications officer, on 07774 751 655.
Scottish Legal Aid Board - JANET NIXON, Head of Secretariat on 0131 226
7061 ext. 309
Editors' notes
- Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) and its 70 member Citizens Advice
Bureaux (CABx) form Scotland' s largest independent advice network.
CAB advice services are delivered through 199 service points from the
islands to the city centres. Last year, one in 12 Scots used their
local Citizens Advice Bureau.
- The six CABx involved in the project have offices in Thurso, Wick,
Nairn, Moray, Alness, Dingwall, Tain, Gairloch, Portree, Barra, Harris,
Lewis and Uist.
- Legal advice pilot projects
Part V of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 allows the Board to employ solicitors to work in partnership with local advice giving organisations. In March last year the Board invited interested organisations to submit proposals for pilot projects to be run under the newly commenced powers contained in Part V.
The Board received over 40 submissions from such organisations or partnerships of organisations from across Scotland. The number, quality and diversity of the proposals submitted reflected the range of advice services available in Scotland and demonstrated the imagination, innovation and commitment of those offering the services.
The four successful projects were announced at a launch event hosted by the Board on 11 October. The package of projects heralds the start of a programme of developing new approaches to delivering legal advice and improving access to justice. Amongst those who will benefit from the pilot projects are asylum seekers in Glasgow, people living in rural areas of the highlands and islands, socially excluded people in West Lothian (this project includes the West Lothian CAB) and rough sleepers and young people in Edinburgh.
As well as commencing the necessary legislation, the Scottish Executive has given the Board additional funding of £250,000 pa for the projects. This funding meets the costs of the solicitors and the running costs of the projects, such as administration.
- Legal aid
Legal aid allows people who would not otherwise be able to afford it to access the help of a solicitor, and in some circumstances an advocate. To receive legal aid, applicants must consult a solicitor who will help them complete an application. The Board itself does not provide a legal aid service - it pays solicitors and advocates to do this.
- The Scottish Legal Aid Board
The Scottish Legal Aid Board is responsible for managing legal aid in Scotland. It is a non-departmental public body set up under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986. Twelve Board members, including the chairman, appointed by Scottish Ministers, currently oversee the work.
The Board's mission is to develop and deliver appropriate access to quality legal assistance for those eligible, in a cost-effective manner. The Board's main tasks are to consider and then grant or refuse applications for legal aid; to scrutinise accounts and pay solicitors and advocates for the legal aid work they do and to advise Scottish Ministers on legal aid matters.
