LEGAL SERVICES AND LAW CENTRES (Hansard, 30 July 1974)

§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (LORD ELWYN-JONES)

Following the debate on Motion of the noble Lord, Lord Gifford, on May 15, I have had discussions with those interested in this problem, including the Law Society, the National Association of Citizens' Advice Bureaux Council, the Legal Action Group and a Working Party representative of the existing law centres and have reached conclusions as to the course which I should now take.

As a first step I propose to strengthen the section of my Office which deals with legal aid and legal services. I am asking Mr. Richard White of the Institute of Judicial Administration at Birmingham University, who has considerable experience in this field, to undertake an urgent examination of the nature and extent of the need for legal services for the sections of the community who need legal help and are not getting it. This will be designed to pinpoint the nature of the deficiences and the best way of overcoming them within the limits of what is now economically practicable. My Legal Aid Advisory Committee drew attention, in general terms, in their 23rd Report to these problems, but they themselves recognised that the defects of the present system needed to be indentified with greater precision.

I referred, in the debate on May 15, to the effect of the Solicitors' Practice Rules which require the Law Society to determine the way in which a particular law centre should be permitted to operate. I 2295WA do not think that this is a satisfactory method of dealing with the matter and I am glad to say that The Law Society share my view. They have therefore agreed, as an interim measure, that they will work in close consultation with my Office in future in deciding whether waivers should be granted and the terms on which this should be done.

As your Lordships will know, some of the law centres are in serious financial difficulties and I understand that certain of them will have to curtail their work or close down by the end of this year, if further financial assistance cannot be made available. This would obviously be regrettable bearing in mind the value of the work they do. The Government propose to seek Parliamentary approval for additional funds of £50,000 so as to enable us to provide limited financial assistance, on an emergency basis during the current financial year, to those centres which can show that they would otherwise have to close down or curtail their operations to an unacceptable extent. I must, however, make it clear that this carries no commitment as to the possibility of further finance being available in the future. The needs for finance in the longer term will be one of the matters which my Office will be studying in detail in the coming months in the light of the examination I have mentioned.

Finally, I should like to record with gratitude the value which my predecessors and I have derived from the work of the Legal Aid Advisory Committee. The Committee is, however, somewhat under strength and I hope shortly to be able to enlarge it by the addition of a few more members with experience of legal services.

£ million at 1974 Surrey prices
	1969–70	1970–71	1971–72	1972–73	1973–74 (estimate)
(a) Total public expenditure	30,945	31,519	32,087	33,654	35,534
(b) U.K. net contribution to the budget of the European Communities	—	—	—	27	113

So far as (c) and (d) are concerned it is too early to say what the range of changes in total expenditure will be over the next five years or what the United Kingdom contribution to the Communities' budget will be. The last White Paper on public expenditure (Cmnd. 5519) was, immediately after publication, overtaken by Mr. Barber's Statement on December 17, 1973, about cuts in expenditure. In his Budget