HC Deb 10 December 2002 vol 396 cc275-8W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when workshops to examine difficulties of equal access to legal services took place; what the(a) cost and (b) purpose of each workshop was; what minority ethnic organisations she consulted on the programme of these events; how many persons and what organisations have been represented at events; and what plans she has for further events in the next 12 months. [86017]

Ms Rosie Winterton

Five Community Legal Service (CLS) Diversity Workshops have taken place. The target groups and the costs of the relevant workshops were as follows:

Workshop £
Children and Young People 4,738.90
People with Disabilities 3,668
Minority Ethnic Groups 2,763.87
Older People 616.58
Women's issues 750

The purpose of the workshops was to see how access to legal help and advice could be improved for each of the five target groups. In particular the aim of the workshops was to assess the following issues as they specifically applied to the target group: the need for advice within the target group; the areas where advice was most likely to be sought, and why; the barriers to advice; the importance of knowing legal rights, and the impact and social consequences of not knowing those rights; and ideas for developing CLS partnership work for the target group in question. No minority ethnic organisations were consulted on the programme of the workshops.

A list of the organisations and the total number of people who attended the events is shown in the following list.

A decision has not yet been made about the number or nature of further events.

List of attendees for CLS Diversity Workshops

Children and Young People—15 January 2002

(21 external delegates)

  • Child Poverty Action Group
  • Shelter
  • Federation of Independent Advice Centres
  • Local Government Association
  • London Borough of Tower Hamlets
  • Youth Access
  • The Law Society
  • Connexions
  • NACAB
  • Children's Rights Alliance
  • The Home Office
  • National Children's Homes
  • Race Equality Unit, DTI
  • Children's Legal Centre
  • Commission for Racial Equality
  • National Youth Agency
  • DFES
  • Legal Aid Practitioners Group
  • Family Law Association
  • Law Centres Federation
  • Harlow Young People's Information Centre
People with Disabilities—13 May 2002

(24 external delegates)

  • Disability Rights Commission
  • Federation of Independent Advice Centres (2 delegates)
    • 277W
  • Help the Aged
  • Disability Unit
  • NACAB (2 delegates)
  • Bury and District Disabled Advisory Council
  • Disability Information Services
  • Law Centres Federation
  • Garden Court North Chambers—Bar Council
  • Advice Services Alliance
  • Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)
  • Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)
  • British Dyslexia Association
  • Shelter
  • Employment Services
  • Disability Rights Commission
  • British Council of Disabled People
  • Dial UK
  • LCD Disability Network
  • MIND
  • Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People
  • Federation of Independent Advice Centres
Minority Ethnic Groups—17 September 2002

(27 external delegates)

  • Action for Integration and Tolerance
  • Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council
  • Lambeth Law Centre (3 delegates)
  • South London Tamil Welfare Group
  • Diversity Unit, LCD
  • Iranian Association
  • BT Ethnic Minority Network
  • Somali Welfare and Development
  • Commission for Racial Equality
  • Federation of Independent Advice (2 delegates)
  • Home Office
  • Latin American Association
  • Chinese Information and Advice Centre
  • Halkevi Turkish Community (2 delegates)
  • Connexions Service
  • Cambridgeshire Travellers Initiative
  • Asylum Aid
  • Confederation of Indian Organisations
  • University College, London
  • Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants
  • Federation of Irish Societies
  • Consumers' Association
  • Ghana Welfare Association
Older People—29 November 2002

(23 external delegates)

  • Maturity Works
  • Cruse Bereavement Care
  • Department of Work and Pensions
  • Neovenator
  • Latin American Association
  • Wise Owls
  • Beth Johnson Foundation
  • Better Government for Older People
  • Thamesmead Law Centre
  • Help the Aged
  • NACAB
  • ASRA Housing Association
  • SADACCA Elderly Day Care Centre
  • Action on Elder Abuse
  • Scottish Older People Advisory Group
  • Friends of the Elderly
  • Department of Health
  • Counsel and Care for the Elderly
  • Association of Retired People over 50
  • Jobcentre Plus
  • Islington PCT
  • Association of Greater London Older Women
  • DTI
Women's issues—28 October 2002

(13 external delegates)

  • Rights of Women
  • Fawcett Society
  • Calderdale Well Woman Association
  • Women's Link
  • Awareness in Practice
  • Equal Opportunities Commission (3 delegates)
  • ADVANCE
  • South Essex Rape and Incest Centre
  • Domestic Violence Working Group
  • National Domestic Violence Helpline
  • Northern Ireland Women's Support Network