Legal Aid Reform: Consultation

Section 1: Purpose, Priorities and Objectives

This consultation sets out proposals to establish a legislative framework for a simpler, more flexible and effective legal aid system.

Greater clarity is needed about what the system is intended to deliver and how it should operate in practice. The Scottish Government therefore proposes an approach based on principles, purpose and objectives, supported by clear accountability (section 4).

Principles, Purpose and Objectives

Principles will provide the overarching framework for decision-making. They guide how the system is developed and operates and are expected to remain stable over time.

A purpose describes the overarching aim of the legal aid system. It will be clearly defined and agreed, providing a consistent direction.

Objectives set out the specific outcomes or activities required to deliver that purpose and may be updated periodically to reflect changing needs and demand.

Principles will underpin the development, planning and delivery of the legal aid system in pursuit of the specified purpose and objectives, for example by ensuring that decisions are consistent, transparent and evidence-based. These may also include being user-centred, proportionate, and focused on effective service design, as well as recognising links to the wider system of publicly funded legal assistance.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board is currently subject to oversight by Scottish Ministers. Those controls will continue and in addition Scottish Ministers will set and maintain the purpose and principles of the system and continue to set and update objectives for the Scottish Legal Aid Board to deliver on those principles and objectives. These will be published separately to the annual report submitted by Scottish Legal Aid Board, to ensure transparency and enable scrutiny.

Questions

Q2. Do you think it would be beneficial for Scottish Ministers to continue to set a clear purpose for the legal aid system, supported by periodically updated objectives for the Scottish Legal Aid Board?

• Yes – both purpose and objectives
• Yes – purpose only
• Yes – objectives only
• Neither purpose nor objectives
• Don’t know

Q3. What principles, if any, should inform the purpose and objectives?

Principles are the high-level considerations that guide how decisions are made (e.g. user-centred or evidence-based). “Purpose” describes the overarching aim of the system, and “objectives” set out the specific outcomes needed to deliver that aim.

Q4. Do you think these principles should be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny?

• Yes
• No
• Don’t know