In March 1997 the Lord Chancellor announced the first five locations selected for pilots of divorce information meetings to begin in June 1997.

Those areas are Birmingham and Coventry, East Anglia, Cardiff and Swansea, Leicestershire and South Yorkshire.As solicitors are aware, attendance at information meetings will become compulsory, pursuant to Section 8 of the Family Law Act 1996, prior to filing a statement of marital breakdown, once the Act has been implemented.

The provision of information is to be tested during the pilot project when attendance at meetings will be voluntary.In December 1996, the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) approached local branches of four voluntary agencies to submit bids to provide divorce information, only two of which, National Family Mediation (NFM) and Relate submitted bids.

Voluntary agencies were approached to form the first phase of the pilot project since they qualify for grant in aid.In targeting areas the LCD looked for areas with a through-put of approximately 6000 divorce petitions per annum.

It aims to achieve attendance at the voluntary meetings of up to ten per cent of that number over a period of up to nine months.

If this number is achieved, the LCD believes its research into the project will be statistically valid.Whilst the project in any of the five areas will be led by Relate or NFM, the information presenters (ten in each area) will be recruited from a variety of backgrounds, comprising two solicitors, two counsellors, two mediators, two court welfare officers and two from other professional backgrounds, eg nurses.

Recruitment was carried out by the lead agency in each area during April 1997, following local advertising.

Training of presenters began during May in readiness for commencement of the pilot in June.The National Council for Family Proceedings (NCFP) will act as project manager for the pilots and will co-ordinate the training of presenters and production of written and oral material.

NCFP has invited a number of organisations, including the Law Society, to draft leaflets to form part of the information pack to be handed to the public at the meetings.

These organisations have also been given the task of providing background information for the presenter's script to be used at the meetings.

A variety video is also being produced for use at the group meeting (see below) and its effectiveness will be tested during the pilot project.Whilst section 8(9) of the Act details what information is to be included at the meeting, the Act does not specify where meetings are to be held, how long the meeting is to last or who will conduct the meeting.

To some extent therefore, the meeting can be developed in any way.During the pilot project, the LCD is to test a different types of meeting with interested parties being allocated to meetings at random:-- an individual meeting of up to one hour-- an individual meeting of up to one half hour and the opportunity to attend at a group meeting lasting up to one hour-- a group meeting aimed at those who have children but who are either unmarried or not intending to divorce.The group meetings will be conducted by two presenters comprising either a lawyer, a mediator or a court welfare officer and there is some suggestion that the LCD wishes to involve judges as presenters at the group meetings.

A of venues are also to be tested: meetings can be held in existing business premises, although a nameplate must be displayed outside the premises and lead agencies have been asked by the LCD to specify at least one neutral venue at which the group meeting may be held.

It appears that, at least during the first phase of the pilot, dedicated premises will be used for both the individual and group meetings.

A second phase of pilot projects is due to begin in September 1997 and it is anticipated that this will involve the commercial sector (to include solicitors) under a contractual relationship with the LCD.Specific areas have not yet been identified, although it is known that pilots will not run in competition with each other and the South coast appears to be a likely target.

Again, the areas covered are likely to be wide, for example, Bournemouth would also cover Winchester, Andover, Newport, Southampton and Basingstoke and the same criteria for presenters and venues are likely to be applied to the commercial sector.The Law Society is very keen to ensure that good quality information is provided in a cost- effective manner.

The LCD has recently announced that it will pay presenters £15 an hour for an individual meeting and £22.50 an hour for a group meeting.Although the Law Society's family law committee has been most anxious to encourage solicitors to be involved in the second stage of the pilot, the committee recognises that the remuneration will be unattractive to the majority of the profession.The Law Society is unable to bid for a divorce information contract, but there would appear to be no reason why local law societies, consortia of firms, or individual firms could not submit bids.

Once the Act is implemented, solicitors who become divorce information providers will not subsequently be able to act for parties to whom they have given divorce information.The family law committee would like to hear from solicitors interested in becoming divorce information providers.

Contact the Law Society's family law committee, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL.