The Scottish Government

Community Legal Services in Scotland: Needs Assessment
Contractor: MRUK and University of Salford
Due Date: March 2004
Contact: Catherine Palmer [0131 244 2982]
This project is assessing the level and nature of community legal need in 4 community legal service partnership areas using two different methods - proxy models and community surveys. These exercises will be followed by focus groups with local stakeholders. Reports for individual partnerships will be produced in the course of the project. A final report to the Scottish Executive including the key results and recommendations for conducting future needs assessment exercises will be published in December 2003.

Evaluation of Community Legal Service Pilot Partnerships
Contractors: In-house
Due Date: March 2004
Contact: Catherine Palmer [0131 244 2982]
The principal objective of this evaluation will be to assess and evaluate the contribution and cost of pilot community legal partnerships in improving the planning of services locally. The evaluation will be undertaken in-house and has two strands. The first strand will obtain the views of partnership participants before and after the partnership process using a short questionnaire. The second element is to conduct non-participant observation of partnership meetings to assess how effectively the partnerships function. The final report will be published in June 2004.

Human Rights Cases in the Scottish Courts
Contractor: Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde
Due Date: June 2004
Contact: Fiona MacDonald [0131 244 2094]
The principal aim of the project is to monitor and review the uses and development of human rights law in Scottish courts. The researchers will also be piloting a monitoring system in a sample of Scottish courts, with a view to making recommendations for a nation-wide monitoring system. Such a system would allow for the tracking of cases that make use of human rights legislation. This project began in May 2003. A final report will be published in Summer 2004.

Adults with Incapacity: Consultancy on Implementation, Monitoring and Research
Contractors: Alzheimer Scotland and Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health
Due Date: Autumn 2004
Contact: Fiona MacDonald [0131 244 2094]
The research team are undertaking three distinct (but linked) phases of work in relation to Parts 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the Adults with Incapacity Act. The aim is to establish how the Act is operating, whether it is operating in the way intended, and the impact it is having on those using it. The first six months of the Consultancy focused on implementation and monitoring of the use of the Act. In the coming year, greater focus will be given to the research activity (which builds on the other components).

National Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications: Scottish Booster
Contractor: DTI and BMRB
Contact: Anita Morrison [0131 244 5229]
Due Date: 2004
A Scottish booster to this GB-wide survey has been commissioned from the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI). Information to be collected includes characteristics of the applicants, employers and the dispute, use of procedures, patterns of support, advice and representation and the tribunal outcome. There is also scope for comparisons between Scotland and England/Wales. The data will be available to the Civil Law Research Team in January 2004.

Minority and Social Diversity in Legal Education (2003)
NFO System Three and University of Strathclyde
This project examined recruitment into law courses within Scottish Universities, and the subsequent career choices made by law students with particular reference to improving diversity.
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Evaluation of the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 (forthcoming 2003)
Cavanagh K, Scoular J and Connolly C
This research analysed relevant cases in the three months preceding, and subsequent to, the introduction of the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) legislation. The views of those interacting with the Act (users, the police, fiscals and sheriffs) are sought to establish levels of awareness, use of, and impact of the Act.

Child Contact Centres: Two reports (forthcoming 2003)
National Centre for Social Research / In-house
Two key projects on Child Contact Centres are due for publication. The first examines the expectations and experiences of contact centres among users and referrers. The second presents the findings of two surveys of Scottish Child Contact Centre stakeholders. A research findings drawing on key results and recommendations from both projects will also be published.

Review of Evidence: Developing Legal Information and Advice Provision in Scotland (forthcoming 2003)
Blake Stevenson with OPM
This review examines the evidence base on developing community legal services. It covers a range of topics including: outreach services, referral to and between providers, IT delivery, quality assurance schemes, the role of non-lawyers in the provision of legal advice and information, and contracting arrangements for community legal services in England and Wales.