Access to Justice Bill

HC Deb 02 March 1999 vol 326 c715W

Dr. Gibson

To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to inform and advise the public about changes to legal aid following the publication of the Access to Justice Bill [Lords]. [73377]

Mr. Hoon

The Access to Justice Bill was published on 2 December 1998, but the Government's proposals to reform legal aid were first outlined in October 1997. Since then, my Department and the Legal Aid Board have publicised them in numerous speeches and interviews and in articles in the media. Consultation papers have been published on various aspects of the reforms. The White paper,Modernising Justice, published in December 1998, set out the Government's intentions and a summary of the White paper has been widely circulated. The full text of the White paper is also available on the Internet. Explanatory notes for the Access to Justice Bill are also publicly available.