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Part V Legal Advice Pilot Projects- Background Part V of the Legal Aid ( Scotland) Act 1986 contains provisions for the employment of solicitors by the Scottish Legal Aid Board to give advice and assistance, to act for persons receiving legal aid or to work with local organisations. The provisions relating to local organisations enable the solicitor to assist organisations in their function of providing advice, to promote links between organisations and local solicitors and to provide oral advice direct to clients. In October 2000 the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice announced that Part V would be commenced to allow the Board to pilot arrangements for the direct employment of solicitors to work with advice agencies and their clients. Following an extensive selection process, four innovative projects were chosen as part of phase one of the Part V funding. Phase one ran from March 2002 – March 2005 and included the following projects;
The Scottish Legal Advice Board appointed a solicitor to work with each of these projects to help identify new ways of delivering legal advice and improving access to justice. Following the successful evaluation of phase one, a further £800,000 has been secured from the Scottish Executive to allow the Scottish Legal Aid Board to move onto phase two of the legal advice pilot projects. - ENDS -
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