Dr. Tony WrightTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, when he expects the community legal service to be fully operational. [87546]
§ Mr. VazThe Community Legal Service (CLS) will be established under the provisions of the Access to Justice Bill, which is still before Parliament. Our aim is that Community Legal Services will be available to the great bulk of the population of England and Wales by the beginning of 2002.
As the first step, Pioneer and Associate Pioneer partnerships are being established, as described in the Consultation Paper published on 25 May. These will be operational by the end of 1999 and will cover nearly a quarter of the population of England and Wales. In addition, as the Consultation Paper describes, the Lord Chancellor's Department aims to establish by the end of 1999 core quality criteria for accrediting advice centres to the CLS, and to launch a CLS website on the internet early in 2000.
Subsequent establishment of further partnerships will depend on assessment of the needs of, and advice delivery systems for, each area in which partnerships will operate. It will also need to take account of experience with Pioneers and Associate Pioneers. Progress will therefore depend on actions by many prospective partners, as well as by the Lord Chancellor's Department and the Legal Services Commission.