RLC Participates in Meetings with Government and Legal Aid Board
26th July 2010
On Friday 23 July 2010 Renfrewshire Law Centre took part in meetings with representatives of the Scottish Government's Access to Justice Division then representatives of the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) in a series of engagements set up by the Scottish Association of Law Centres (SALC) lasting the whole day.
Access to Justice Division
In the morning Jon Kiddie (RLC Principal Solicitor and SALC Secretary) and Angus McIntosh (Castlemilk Law Centre) met James Howe, Division Head, Karen MacIvor, Policy Manager, and other members of the Access to Justice Team, which has a largely new membership. The discussion examined such concerns as maintaining at least the same level of services in the face of public spending cuts and the implementation of Lord Gill's Review.
While RLC acknowledges the need for cost-effectiveness in the delivery of PFLA (publicly funded legal assistance), nonetheless it considers law centres to have a central role in Scotland's 'mixed system' of advice agencies.
Scottish Legal Aid Board
In the afternoon Jon and a number of other law centre representatives met withSLAB officials, including Lindsay Montgomery CBE (Chief Executive), Joe Kelly (Heal of Civil Legal Assistance), Colin Lancaster (Director of Policy and Development) and Marie-Louise Fox (Head of Secretariat).
Both the Access to Justice Division and SLAB confirmed their support of law centres in this country.