November 2017

Court hire fees for Bar Mock Trial – Derry heat

Grant: £2,360
November 23, 2017

EEA citizens pooled fund

Grant: £200,000
November 16, 2017

This is part of a pooled fund to help secure a fair process for EEA nationals to stay in UK in accordance with the law. The fund will work on two main issues: capacity of civil society to engage with policy on matters for EEA citizens, especially vulnerable groups; and provision of information for vulnerable groups about the process, potentially looking at technology solutions.

Initially, NPC will work with experts to develop a suitable strategy for the fund and the fund will be advised by a council of experts throughout. NPC will conduct due diligence on potential grantees and put forward the most relevant organisations. A committee of NPC staff with relevant expertise in grant-making and policy work will peer review and decide the grants with oversight from council of experts.

We expect the fund to open for grants for two years from Spring/Summer 2018. Gathering and disseminating knowledge to benefit the wider sector will be a key objective of the fund and NPC will monitor the funding and disseminate learning (through roundtables, events, blogs) for another year.

Law in the making: enabling domestic abuse survivors’ study of the law during the passage of the DVA Bill

Grant: £70,000
November 13, 2017

The government will consult on the Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) Bill – which aims to consolidate, improve and extend legal provisions for survivors of domestic abuse. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for a step change in the identification of and response to domestic abuse. As the national organisation representing domestic abuse services in England and working alongside sister organisations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Women’s Aid is in a unique position to lead the sector’s response.

Domestic abuse survivors rely heavily on the law – for many, it forms an essential part of their escape from a violent perpetrator. It is therefore vital that survivors’ voices and experiences are at the heart of primary law reform and the new statutory regulations and guidance that will link to the new Act, and that survivors and the services who support them understand the impact of those changes.

In order to engage survivors of domestic abuse in the development of the DVA Bill, we will trial a real-time study of the law using the Bill by a group of survivors. This will increase their knowledge of the law-making process and the resulting Act of Parliament.

Separation Solutions Finder

Grant: £130,000
November 13, 2017

Relate have concluded that it is not currently feasible to launch the full end-to-end, joint negotiation process envisioned by Rechtwijzer. However, it has identified a clear need for a well-designed interactive guided pathway and ‘separation solutions finder’.

This digital service will help divorcing parents become more informed about their separation, and more emotionally and practically ready to effectively resolve matters out-of-court. It will also make them more able to take advantage of fixed fee and unbundled arrangements, if legal advice or mediation is required.

The project will draw on the extensive research, proven approaches and content, as well as cross-sector relationships to rapidly configure the service.

Relate will work closely with users and likeminded legal firms in designing and testing the tool. Their input will vitally shape the offer for OFDR v2.0 and help identify sustainable sources of income to drive forward its reach and impact.

Improving legal provision for victims of trafficking: essential tools for legal professionals

Grant: £45,500
November 13, 2017

The Project aims to engage and upskill practitioners to address a gap in the availability and quality of legal provision for victims of trafficking, by:

1. Enhancing the resources on ATHUB.org.uk, ATLEU’s online resource for support providers and legal practitioners, by: commissioning articles, blogs and practice notes from barristers, solicitors and other experts within the anti-trafficking community; and developing an online referral mechanism for victims seeking legal representation which will match victims with pro bono/legal aid practitioners by case type, location and urgency.
2. Publishing monthly e-bulletins, webinars and podcasts to increase awareness of the resources available on ATHUB, to provide updates and improve practitioners’ knowledge.
3. Publishing a special supplement on ‘Bringing compensation claims for victims of trafficking’, in partnership with Legal Action Group. The supplement will be distributed to all Legal Action subscribers, providing an offline take-away of in-depth practice notes, highlighting the availability of legal aid and how practitioners can make the most of it to assist victims that they can refer to again and again.
4. Delivering a targeted programme of training to legal aid practitioners to lay a foundation of knowledge and build practitioners’ confidence which will be complemented by the ATHUB resources.

Community Portal – serving small charities' legal information and service needs

Grant: £12,000
November 13, 2017

Wales Civil Society Forum on Brexit (Wales-CSFB)

Grant: £97,613
November 13, 2017

Wales-CSFB will focus on Welsh civil society’s engagement in Brexit. It has two key, mutually supportive aspects.

The first is to support civil society groups (CSGs) to engage actively in debate and inform decision-making around Brexit, by providing reliable and accessible legal expertise, timely information and a co-ordinating role.

The second is to inform academic work on civil society engagement with Brexit. This aspect will facilitate tailored legal expertise on Brexit for civil society in Wales. It will include a baseline statement of legal challenges and opportunities for civil society from Brexit. Academic work will be informed by insights from civil society on communities’ experience of debates around and consequences of Brexit.

The project is a partnership between the Wales Governance Centre (WGC) at Cardiff University and Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA).

Understanding delegated legislation for Brexit and beyond

Grant: £91,188
November 13, 2017

There is set to be a gap in the legislative delivery of Brexit, namely poor understanding of delegated legislation among organisations whose interests Brexit-related delegated legislation will affect. This project addresses this gap by widening access to delegated legislation information and training from the Hansard Society.

The use of delegated legislation is central to the government’s plans for the legislative delivery of Brexit, as shown in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill. Delegated legislation will be central to Brexit’s policy content. However, understanding of the delegated legislation process is low across all sectors of society. This is a significant barrier to business and civic engagement with the Brexit legislative process.

The Litigant in Person Network

Grant: £66,103
November 13, 2017

The Network is an online platform which disseminates information on projects, resources, research and other content relating to access to justice across the sector, uniquely involving voluntary sector, legal professions, HMCTS, universities, pro bono organisations and the judiciary. In its first six months the Network has secured 200 individual members and 55 organisational members. It provides regular newsletters alongside the website content but importantly also engage individually with Network members off line to ensure people are getting the information, support and contacts that are relevant to them.

This project is to establish the first working group based on the SRLN model in the US, chaired by a Network member, facilitated by the Network Development Manager. Network members have asked that we support the development of a strategic research agenda around litigants in person and so this will be the focus of our first group.

Delivering ‘just in time’ information on maternity rights at work

Grant: £39,500
November 13, 2017

The project will deliver ‘just in time’ information for pregnant women on maternity rights at work through apps and other social media channels.

The project will:

• engage with commercial apps targeting pregnant women and negotiate for inclusion of customised text and existing videos in the apps as free content, building on their experience of working with a non-commercial app provider;
• develop and implement a plan to deliver maternity rights information using social media channels, including development of appropriate visual materials;
• review and improve the navigation on their website to improve access to video and text materials, recognising the increased use of mobiles to access online information;
• evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions to inform future projects to build legal capability.

Maternity Action is well-placed to undertake this work as they are currently completing a project to deliver ‘just in time’ information on maternity rights through the Baby Buddy app, which is provided by the charity Best Beginnings.