Targeting the regions

As the government sets out the benefits of devolution, Janet Paraskeva outlines a strategy to support local solicitors through regional assistance

Each of the nine English regions and the principality of Wales has its own identity, marked by different industries, landscape and culture.

Because of this rich diversity, it makes a great deal of sense for the people in those regions to have a real say in determining the direction their region takes.

The government says that the purpose of devolution and regionalisation is to address this issue, and also to tackle the large economic disparities which exist both between regions and within them.

The government wants each region to exploit its strengths and to tackle its weaknesses.

To do so, it is taking a new approach, seeking to strengthen the building blocks for economic growth in each region and country, while strengthening leadership in the regions by giving each one the powers necessary to address its own needs.

In many ways, these motivations are quite similar to those behind the Law Society's regionalisation programme.

It is designed to enable us to provide the best and most effective delivery of Society services through a devolved structure in the English regions and in Wales, where we have a dedicated national office which deals with the specific issues that concern solicitors in Wales.

The problems facing solicitors often vary in different parts of England and Wales, and a strong role for the regional offices and the office in Wales will enable us to be much more responsive to local needs.

Where services are needed in person, they should be delivered as close to solicitors and their clients as possible, and with as much input from local practitioners as possible.

On top of increased powers to regional development agencies and chambers, the government has offered, to those regions that are interested, the opportunity to elect a regional assembly.

As well as delivering strategies in areas such as economic development, skills and employment, regional planning, transport, and environmental protection, the task of these assemblies will be to ensure that their policies fit together effectively so they improve people's living standards and quality of life.

This is where the government thinks that elected assemblies will add value, by focusing on cross-cutting issues such as sustainable development across their regions.

We want to ensure that solicitors can bring the benefit of their experience and expertise to this new and more dynamic approach to policy making in Wales and the English regions.

In this, we hope our regional offices and the office in Wales can play a significant role.

In drawing up our programme of regionalisation, we have adopted the same boundaries as those used for government economic regions.

This made sense because, increasingly, much of the work of the Society's regional offices will involve working in conjunction with various elements of regional government and regional assemblies as they develop.

Of course, there have been some areas where historical affiliations - in relation to local law societies, for example - cross these newer regional boundaries.

Where that is the case, we have not sought to enforce the boundaries in any strict way.

However, in time, practitioners may find it makes good sense to work collaboratively with the various bodies established within the government regions.

Among the core activities of the Society's regional offices will be to work closely with regional development agencies - and the elected regional assemblies where they are established - to keep legal issues and access to justice on the radar of regional policy-makers.

We also want to ensure that in developing regional economic policies, the interests of the legal profession are taken into account - whether this is about access to legal services in rural areas or the contribution the profession can make to economic development.

The Society also wants to work as closely as possible with businesses on a regional level.

Our regional offices are collaborating with Business Link, the government-sponsored agency which helps people set up and run businesses.

Each Business Link - there are 45 around the country - provides a range of services to encourage entrepreneurialism, including training, consultancy and funding.

The regional offices are also developing partnerships with other professional organisations, such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Chartered Accountants, with the intention that by combining forces we can create more business opportunities for professionals.

Each regional office has close relations with various legal bodies - such as the Legal Services Commission, the courts and the Crown Prosecution Service - at local level.

They are a platform for promoting practice development initiatives - such as the family law protocol and compliance with money laundering legislation.

As closer relations with local law societies develop, we are in a better position to promote consultation with the profession.

The development of the offices also enables us to undertake innovative projects.

In the east midlands, the Society is piloting a programme for mapping the profession, which will enable us to plot trends in different branches of the law, so we can identify which areas are doing well and which are under greater pressure.

This will be an invaluable resource, helping us to shape policy which is tailored to the real challenges which face the profession in different parts of the country.

It also means we can take account of the views of practitioners conducting the profession's day-to-day business.

Janet Paraskeva is chief executive of the Law Society