 |
 |
         |
 |
Scottish Legal Aid Board joins forces with Argyll and Bute Advice Network to provide wider, innovative access to specialist legal advice across the region The Scottish Legal Aid Board and Argyll and Bute Advice Network today (Tuesday 20 th February) announced the launch of a new project aimed at providing specialist legal advice to clients in Argyll and Bute. With funds made available by the Scottish Executive under Part V of the Legal Aid ( Scotland) Act 1986 , the Scottish Legal Aid Board has appointed Colin Forbes to work with Argyll and Bute Advice Network to help improve access to specialist legal advice and trial innovative ways of delivering training and advice throughout the Network. Jennifer Swanson, Chair of Argyll and Bute Advice Network explains: “We applied to the Scottish Legal Aid Board for funding, following reports from a number of advice agencies in Argyll and Bute, that the lack of access to specialised legal advice was a serious barrier to providing support to clients, particularly in remote and rural areas. The appointment of a Part V solicitor is a great step forward and will enable advice agencies to better serve clients and be more able to achieve the high standards of care they set themselves”. The “Part V” solicitor will be funded initially for two years and will cover the whole of Argyll and Bute, based at Argyll and Bute Council Offices in Lochgilphead. Using innovative information technology, the solicitor will be able to take on their own specialist legal aid casework covering a vast geographical area – some 2,600 square miles including 26 islands. He will also provide a secondary advice service to advice and rights staff. In addition, the solicitor will also be responsible for the delivery of an advice agency training programme that will look to maximise information technology resources such as the Internet / Intranet, email, video and telephone conferencing, to better equip advisers in dealing with a wider range of common issues involving legal advice. Colin Forbes, the Solicitor employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, comments: “The Board is delighted to be supporting this innovative legal advice project which will open up access to legal advice by delivering services in new and different ways and in non-traditional settings. I am delighted to be joining Argyll and Bute Advice Network and look forward to improving the availability of legal advice for clients and agencies across the region through the trial of various methods of legal advice training and delivery, including video and telephone conferencing .” “I also look forward to working with my colleagues in the commercial legal sector in Argyll and Bute to highlight specialist areas of knowledge they may have that would be of help in dealing with issues particular to clients and to working with them to identify gaps in provision, be they geographical or issues based, so that we may better plan future legal advice resources for Argyll and Bute communities. With improved communication and co-operation between agencies and the commercial sector we can hope to increase accessibility and availability of such services to the benefit of clients across the region”. Gordon Sutherland, Bute Advice Centre and Argyll and Bute Advice Network concludes: “Having a Part V solicitor as part of our team will assist us tremendously as we strive to improve accessibility, availability and quality of legal advice and information in Argyll and Bute. The benefits of the solicitor’s knowledge, advice and training will be felt throughout the region but particularly in areas suffering social exclusion (both urban and rural) and will improve the quality of advice to those who most need it. Through a better trained network of volunteer advisers, the Part V project has the potential to help the thousands of clients who use our network every year.”
-Ends- For further information contact : Argyll and Bute Advice NetworkJennifer Swanson Tel: 01546 604298 Email : jennifer.swanson@argyll-bute.gov.uk Scottish Legal Aid BoardKatie Ronald Mob: 07908 61 64 62 Email : katieronald@hotmail.co.uk Editor’s Notes
|
|
        |