More than £800,000 awarded for advice projects

Scottish Legal Aid Board secures funding for projects to benefit vulnerable people

News, 3 November 2005

The Scottish Legal Aid Board has secured more than £800,000 from the Scottish Executive to run phase two of its legal advice Part V pilot projects, over the next few years.

Among those who will benefit from the five projects are people with mental health issues in Fife, people living in rural and island communities in the Highlands and Argyll and Bute, rough sleepers and young people in Edinburgh, and disabled people living in North and South Lanarkshire.

Five solicitors will be employed directly by the Board to work in partnership with local advice giving organisations. The projects are:

Fife Rights Forum Project – the solicitor will provide specialised legal advice and representation to mental health clients in Fife, including young people and children.
Argyll and Bute Advice Network Project – this pilot project will see the trial of various innovative methods of legal advice training and delivery, including video and telephone conferencing.
Street Legal Project – working with some of the most socially excluded people in the community, this project, based at Streetwork UK, will provide legal advice to young people and rough sleepers at risk on the streets of Edinburgh.
Citizens Advice Scotland Project – working out of the CAS office in Inverness, the solicitor will serve 10 of the bureaux across the Highlands and Islands.
Disability Legal Advice Project – this pilot project involves Citizens Advice Scotland, Capability Scotland, Update and the Disability Rights Commission joining forces with the Board to improve access to legal advice for disabled people across North and South Lanarkshire.

Jean Couper, Chairman of the Scottish Legal Aid Board said: "Communities across Scotland will benefit from these five projects as the Board addresses priority subject areas such as mental health, disability, employment and housing.

"They will also enable us to test out and improve new methods of delivering legal advice and improving access to legal services within remote and rural communities."

Part V of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 provides for the Board to employ solicitors to act for people receiving legal aid, to give advice and assistance and to work with local organisations.

Solicitors for two of the projects are already in place - Ian Dickson in Inverness and Norman McKay for Streetwork UK.

Recruitment for the other three projects will begin on 4 November and it is hoped that solicitors will be in post by the end of February 2006. Each pilot will run until March 2008.