Civil advice and assistance reform
	The civil advice and assistance reforms come into effect in March 2006

THIS UPDATE CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN RELATION TO CHANGES IN ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE COMING INTO FORCE IN MARCH 2006.

THE CHANGES AFFECT BOTH CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PRACTITIONERS. CRIMINAL PRACTITIONERS SHOULD READ SECTION 3.  

PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL STAFF INVOLVED IN PROVIDING ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE ARE MADE AWARE OF ITS CONTENTS.

Introduction

This is the first in a series of updates issued by the Board that will inform you about the changes being made to the operation of civil advice and assistance. The first phase of the reforms, in April 2005, increased fee rates by 16%.

This update provides details about phase 2 of the reforms, including

• details of the major changes in civil advice and assistance, which will come into force in March 2006

• details of the local seminars which the Board will hold jointly with the Law Society of Scotland in January 2006 to inform you about the changes. Please complete the attached booking form if you wish to attend.

• details of the new civil and criminal advice and assistance intimation forms which will come into operation in March 2006.

Reform Of Civil Advice And Assistance

At last year’s Joint Legal Aid Conference, Hugh Henry MSP, Deputy Minister for Justice, indicated that the Scottish Executive intended to take forward the proposals for the reform of civil advice and assistance that had been developed by the Tripartite Group (comprising representatives of the Board, the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Executive).

In December 2004, the Scottish Executive issued, on behalf of the Tripartite Group, a consultation paper, setting out the proposals for the reform of civil advice and assistance. A number of stakeholder meetings were held earlier this year by the Board and the Law Society, which included some local faculty meetings. These meetings, together with the consultation responses, contributed to the final design of the new civil advice and assistance process.

The key elements of the reform of civil advice and assistance are:

Phase 1 - already implemented

• An increase in fee rates for all civil and children’s advice and assistance. Fee rates were increased by 21% (including the 5% increase in July 2004) in April 2005 applying to fees for work done or outlays incurred on or after 30 April 2005.

Phase 2 - to be implemented in March 2006

We are currently working towards an implementation date in March 2006. This has been slightly delayed due to the drafting and laying of the new regulations needed to enact the changes.

• The introduction of specific categories of case where advice from a solicitor is appropriate. Where a client has a problem that is reflected in this list, the solicitor can grant and provide civil advice and assistance generally in the same way as the current system. A copy of the list of case categories is enclosed with this letter.

• The introduction of ‘diagnostic advice and assistance’. Where the problem presented by the client does not fall within one of the specific categories, a solicitor can consider granting civil advice and assistance for the purpose of diagnosing the client’s problem and determining whether further advice and assistance is required. The initial level of authorised expenditure in such a diagnostic case will be £35 with an amended client contribution scale to reflect this.

• There will no longer be a minimum fee for civil advice and assistance.

• Further extension of the template system for increases in authorised expenditure in certain types of case. Templates allow a single, substantial increase in authorised expenditure from the outset of the case to allow the solicitor to undertake all of the work normally required for the type of case concerned.

Phase 3 - likely to be implemented in summer 2006

• Changes to applicants’ financial eligibility and contributions for high value cases to more accurately reflect that civil advice and assistance may be provided over a lengthy period of time and involve high levels of expenditure. Proposals for these changes are still being discussed with the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Executive. We intend to consult more widely with the profession and others on these changes next year.

Information seminars

The Board and the Law Society of Scotland are running a series of evening seminars throughout January 2006 to fully explain the new civil advice and assistance system. We believe that these seminars will provide practitioners with a good opportunity to learn about how the new system will operate and to raise any queries about its operation with senior officials from the Board and the Law Society.

The following seminars will take place:

• Scottish Borders - Melrose -Monday 9 January 2006 -Tweed Horizons Conference Centre, Melrose
  
  
• Central Scotland - Cumbernauld -Tuesday 10 January 2006 -The Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld
  
  
• East of Scotland - Edinburgh -Monday 16 January 2006 -Macdonald Holyrood Hotel, Edinburgh
  
  
• West of Scotland - Glasgow -Tuesday 17 January 2006 -Radisson SAS Hotel, Glasgow
  
  
• North of Scotland - Inverness -Wednesday 18 January 2006 -Marriott Hotel, Inverness
  
  
• North east Scotland – Aberdeen -Monday 23 January 2006 -Hilton Treetops, Aberdeen
  
  
• South west Scotland – Dumfries -Tuesday 24 January 2006 -Cairndale Hotel, Dumfries
  
  
• Tayside and east Scotland - Dundee -Thursday 26 January 2006 -Apex City Quay Hotel, Dundee

The seminars will start at 6pm and close at 7.30pm. You can obtain CPD for these seminars. They are free and open to staff in your office involved in legal aid work.

We request that you complete the online booking form on our website or the attached booking form to reserve a place at a seminar. You can find details of the venues including location maps on our website.

For any roadshow seminar booking queries, contact the Board’s Communications Department on 0131 240 1985 or email general@slab.org.uk

We are also writing to local faculties of solicitors about organising seminars about these reforms for those areas of Scotland where practitioners cannot easily attend the above locations.

New advice and assistance intimation forms – civil, criminal and children’s matters

As part of the process of civil advice and assistance reform, new intimation forms will be introduced. As the reforms mark a separation between civil and criminal advice and assistance, new and separate intimation forms for civil and criminal advice and assistance and ABWOR are being introduced, as well as forms for advice and assistance for children’s matters.

These forms must be used for all grants of advice and assistance made from March 2006 onwards.

Although the advice and assistance reforms only affect civil and children’s matters, the new forms for criminal advice and assistance and ABWOR must also be used from March 2006, to allow us to improve the application information we hold.

Examples of the new forms will be available at the seminars, and copies will also be sent out in a further update mailshot. Final versions of the new forms will be available from mid-January.

We will send a pack of the new forms to each individual practitioner. The number of packs you receive will be based on the number of intimations of advice and assistance you currently make. In addition, the forms will also be available from the Board’s website and through our Legal Aid Online service. Guidance notes on how to complete the forms will be issued with the forms. We will be sending you further information about the new forms in our next update.

What’s next

Further updates about the reform of advice and assistance will be issued over the next weeks. These will provide guidance on the more detailed operation of the scheme. We will also be providing you with contact details for a civil advice and assistance reform helpline.

We hope that the information we will send you and seminars will assist you prepare for the changeover to the new forms and second phase of the reforms that are effective on 1 February 2006.

You should now reserve a place at one of our seminars, and look out for our next reform update.

CIVIL ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE REFORMS  

List of case categories where full advice is appropriate

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