§ Lorna FitzsimonsTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the differences in the level of provision in each United Kingdom region from the not-for-profit sector contractors in community legal services; and what account has taken of this in the allocation of moneys to each region from the Legal Aid Board for provision of not-for-profit contracts. [90979]
§ Mr. VazThe Lord Chancellor has agreed that £20 million should be set aside for contracts to support the development of the not-for-profit sector as providers within the Community Legal Service, and that this sum should be viewed as a floor and not a ceiling. As an initial guide, the Legal Aid Board divided the £20 million between its 13 administrative areas on the basis of the number of income support claimants in each area. However, legal aid areas are not constrained by their initial allocations, and the total amount allocated to not-for-profit organisations nationally may exceed the £20 million set aside for contracts with the not-for-profit sector.
It was the responsibility of each Regional Legal Services Committee (RLSC) to assess the need for legal services in its own region. To determine the need for contracts, each RLSC then considered what services were already being supplied by the not-for-profit sector as a whole within its region, other than work being undertaken under the legal aid scheme, including under pilot contracts with the Legal Aid Board. Some RLSCs decided that, because insufficient information was available on the quality and amount of work done by non-contracted not-for-profit organisations in their region, some of these services should not be taken into account when determining the need for contracts.
§ Lorna FitzsimonsTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what criteria the Regional Legal Services Committee uses to identify the level of need for legal services in respect of housing, immigration and employment matters in Rochdale; what formula they used to assess the level of resources to meet this need in per capita terms; and what steps his Department has taken to monitor the application of(a) those criteria and (b) that formula. [90978]
326W
§ Mr. VazThe criteria used by the Legal Aid Board's Regional Legal Services Committees (RLSCs) to assess need for legal services in all categories of law are set out in their Strategic Plans, which were published in April 1999.
As a starting point for more detailed discussion, the North Western Legal Services Committee (NWLSC) carried out a preliminary assessment of need before taking into account local information. The following national data sets were used:
Census 1991 information on housing tenure and breakdown of ethnic minority populations;DSS 1996 Income Support Claimants data; andthe Department of Environment 1996 English House Condition Survey.Although this information was used directly for the three categories, other information on unemployed claimants (NOMIS 1997) and County Court Debt Judgements (Equifax 1996) were also available to the Committee. In addition, indicators of general deprivation, the Index of Local Conditions (Robson Index) and the Underprivileged Areas Score (Jarman Index), were taken into account.
The draft strategy was widely consulted on through a series of focused meetings on specific subject areas, and conferences organised on a county basis. Written responses, which were also considered in finalising the strategies, were received from other organisations and agencies on the NWLSC network database, including Rochdale CAB, Rochdale Law Centre and Rochdale MBC Advice Services. Rochdale has been assessed as a high priority area for legal services in housing, immigration and employment matters, and subject-specific contracts will definitely be issued in these high priority areas.
The Legal Aid Board reported to the Lord Chancellor on all the RLSC strategic plans, which included an explanation of the criteria used to assess need. The Lord Chancellor considered the plans and approved them in April 1999. The Legal Services Commission will prepare an Annual Plan setting out how it intends to fund services to meet the needs identified by the RLSCs, and its Annual Report to the Lord Chancellor will report on how it has performed against its Plan. There is no formula used to assess the level of resources to meet identified need on a per capita basis, so there is nothing to monitor in that respect. However, officials are considering how best to monitor the performance of the Board and its successor, the Legal Services Commission, in identifying levels of need and addressing them through the granting of contracts.
§ Lorna FitzsimonsTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much money has been allocated to the not-for-profit agencies in(a) the North West Area and (b) the bidding area which includes Rochdale from the Legal Aid Board; what percentage has been allocated to date; and by what means additional moneys may be allocated during the financial year. [90977]
§ Mr. VazThe initial guide allocation of funds for contracts with not-for-profit organisations in the Legal Aid Board's North Western administrative area for 2000–01 is £1,508,000. However, legal aid areas are not constrained by their initial allocations, and the total amount allocated to 327W not-for-profit organisations nationally may exceed the £20 million set aside for contracts with the not-for-profit sector. Funds for contracts with the not-for-profit sector are held at Legal Air Board area level and are not allocated to specific bid zones.
The deadline for applications for not-for-profit contracts was 1 June 1999. However, the Legal Aid Board will be unable to determine how much money will be allocated to not-for-profit contracts until applications have been received from solicitors in August 1999 and there has been the opportunity to consider the contracted provision across the whole region. Final contract decisions (and therefore the division of the overall controlled budget for civil advice and assistance between solicitors and the not-for-profit sector) will be made by October 1999, and will be subject to organisations meeting the relevant franchise and contract requirements. The Board is currently considering the development of a mechanism for allocating additional moneys, within the overall controlled budget, to not-for-profit organisations during the financial year.
§ Lorna FitzsimonsTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department under what circumstances sums additional to the £20 million which the Chair of the Legal Aid Board has allocated to the not-for-profit sector may be provided to the sector. [90976]
§ Mr. VazProvided it remains within the overall allocation for civil advice and assistance, the Legal Aid Board may award contracts to those firms and organisations which are best able to deliver services to meet the priorities outlined in each area's Regional Legal Services Committee strategy. This includes not-for-profit sector organisations. A minimum of £20 million has been allocated for use in contracting with the not-for-profit sector. However, this sum could be exceeded if not-for-profit sector. However, this sum could be exceeded if not-for-profit organisations prove best able to meet identified priority needs, provided total expenditure remains within the total controlled budget for civil advice and assistance.