STRATEGY: unlike in England, local practitioner to sit on national policy-making committee


The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has unveiled its civil legal aid strategy for Wales, naming eight 'procurement areas' through which services will be delivered.



It also revealed that - unlike in England - a local practitioner will sit on its national policy-making committee.



The LSC strategy envisages a nationwide web of eight community legal advice centres (CLACs) and networks (CLANs) to serve every part of the country.



It had been expected that CLANs, which are thought to be best suited for rural areas, would be the most common model for Wales. The choice of CLAC or CLAN, however, will be decided locally, based upon what services are required and where. The LSC and the relevant local authorities will provide joint funding.



An innovative feature of the LSC's strategy for Wales is its decision to appoint a provider representative to its Wales committee for the Community Legal Service (CLS). This representative will be a practising solicitor from either the private or not-for-profit sector, working in the area of publicly-funded legal services.



The Law Society's Wales policy adviser Kay Powell said her office had lobbied long and hard for this outcome and 'practitioners in Wales [are now] in the unique position of having a voice at the heart of the organisation'.



Ms Powell added: 'As the LSC proceeds to implement its CLS strategy in Wales, we want to see sustainable solutions emerge through working with the LSC and other funders ahead of tendering and contracting decisions being made.'



Richard Miller, until recently the director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and now head of legal aid at the Law Society, said: 'It is equally important for the provider voice to be heard in planning the CLS in England, and we hope the LSC will build on this positive development in the future.'



The eight procurement areas are: Bridgend, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan; Central (Ceredigion, Powys); north-east (Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham); north-west (Conwy, Gwynedd, Ynys Mon); Rhondda Cynon Taff and Merthyr Tydfil; south-east (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen); south-west (Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire); and Neath, Port Talbot and Swansea.



Jonathan Rayner