Community Legal Service (Hansard, 23 March 1999)

§ 30. Mr. David Kidney (Stafford)
How the community legal service will be accountable to (a) Parliament and (b) the public. [76335]

§ The Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon)
The community legal service will be administered by the Legal Services Commission. As a non-departmental public body, the commission will be accountable to Parliament through Ministers. The commission's annual plan, setting out how it intends to carry out its functions, and its annual report, setting out how it has delivered against the plan, will be laid before Parliament and published. The commission's accounts will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and its accounting officer will be answerable to the Public Accounts Committee. The commission will, therefore, be accountable to Parliament and, through Parliament, to the public.

§ Mr. Kidney
Does my hon. Friend agree that the community legal service offers the exciting prospect of a modern legal service that is available to all for the next century? That ambition is as fitting for the new world of the 21st century as the ambition doubtless felt by the Labour Members who established the legal aid service for the post-war world. Does my hon. Friend further agree 155 that if the community legal service is to be a success, it is essential that Parliament and the public are guaranteed reliable standards of quality, funding and accessibility?

§ Mr. Hoon
My hon. Friend is quite right. The Government set out in their election manifesto, on which we were both elected, their determination to create a community legal service. A great deal of work has already been done, establishing partnerships with local authorities and other funders to ensure that we have a comprehensive system of legal advice, helping those most in need and spending taxpayers' money as effectively as we possibly can.

§ Mr. John Burnett (Torridge and West Devon)
I did not know that the community legal service was to be available for all and I welcome any comments that the Minister of State may have on that point. The Government have stated that they intend to withdraw legal aid from all personal injury actions. Does that mean that in future legal aid will not be available for important personal injury cases with a public interest element, such as the successful claims for asbestosis and white finger? Furthermore, will the Minister of State confirm whether his Department will be issuing a paper on the cost and availability of insurance for defendants' costs in conditional fee agreements and, if so, when that paper will be issued?

§ Mr. Hoon
As regards the hon. Gentleman's point about public interest, the Department recently published a document on the funding code, which is the technical measure that solicitors will use to determine whether legal aid should be granted in particular cases. It sets out clearly our intention that public interest cases should continue to be supported, and cases such as those mentioned by the hon. Gentleman should continue to receive funding provided that they satisfy the criteria of public interest merit. As for the insurance industry, I am confident that it will continue to provide a dynamic and successful system for funding conditional fee cases. I am not aware of any particular necessity that such cases should be subject to any form of Government oversight or regulation.

§ Mrs. Linda Gilroy (Plymouth, Sutton)
Will my hon. Friend comment further on the role of local authorities in achieving partnership? I was pleased that the Lord Chancellor announced last week that Plymouth city council was to be among the 40 local authorities with associate pioneer status. I believe that local authorities have a role to play in achieving accountability, and I would welcome my hon. Friend's comments on that.

§ Mr. Hoon
It is important that the community legal service is comprehensive, involving all those who are at present financing the unco-ordinated advice services that are available. That is why we announced six full pioneer areas and, as my hon. Friend says, a further 40 associate pioneer areas, where we will be able specifically to develop the comprehensive service that we believe is essential to a community legal service.

§ Mr. Edward Garnier (Harborough)
How can the community legal service be accountable to anybody when the Government's plans may not leave it with any money? 156 Why will not the Minister give the service a separate ring-fenced budget, instead of forcing it to beg for what is left after the public funding of criminal cases?

§ Mr. Hoon
The whole point of the Government's reforms to legal aid is to replace the present unplanned system of spending—which is entirely demand led and cannot be controlled year in, year out—with a system of planning, so we allocate resources to need. That system of planning will mean that there should not be an overspend year on year, and that there always should be sufficient funds available to the community legal service.