Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2014 and come into force on 3rd November 2014.

Amendments to the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013

2. —(1)The Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013( 2 ) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 5 (exceptions from requirement to make a determination in respect of an individual’s financial resources)—

(a) in paragraph (1), after sub-paragraph (ga), insert—

“ (gb) such family mediation as is the relevant mediation session for an individual (“A”) in relation to any matter described in paragraph 14(1) (mediation in family disputes) of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act if—

(i) A is a party to the relevant mediation session; and

(ii) the Director has made a determination that the financial resources of another individual who is a party to that session (“B”) are such that B is eligible, for that session, for such family mediation as is a relevant mediation session; ” and

(b) in paragraph (2), after the definition of “mediator”, insert—

“ “relevant mediation session” means the acting of a mediator at a mediation session (“the session”) which is held on or after 3rd November 2014 and—

and for the purposes of this definition, “single session” and “multi session” have the same meanings as in the contract named the Standard Civil Contract 2010 between the Lord Chancellor and a provider of civil legal services under Part 1 of the Act.. ” .

(3) In regulation 27 (deductions in respect of employment expenses and child care costs), after paragraph (2), insert—

“ (3) Where the income of the individual consists, wholly or partly, of study-related income, there must be deducted, where it would be reasonable to do so, an amount to provide for the care of any dependent child living with the individual during the time that individual is absent from home by reason of their course of study.

(4) In this regulation, the “study-related income” of an individual means income consisting of a—

(a) student loan;

(b) student grant; or

(c) other income received from a person who is not a partner or relative of the individual,

and the purpose of the income is to support the individual’s course of study. ” .

Transitional provision

3. The amendments made by regulation 2(3) do not apply to a pre-commencement application for civil legal services.

Pre-commencement applications for civil legal services

4. —(1) In regulation 3, a “pre-commencement application for civil legal services” means an application for civil legal services that is made before 3rd November 2014.

(2) For the purpose of paragraph (1), an application, other than an application to the CLA, is made before 3rd November 2014 if the application is—

(a) for Controlled Work and the application is signed and dated before 3rd November 2014;

(b) for Licensed Work or an exceptional case determination under section 10 of the Act, other than an application for emergency representation, and the application is—

(i) signed and dated before 3rd November 2014 and received by the Director by 5.00pm on 10th November 2014; or

(ii) submitted through the Client and Cost Management System before 3rd November 2014; or

(c) for emergency representation and the application—

(i) results in a determination being made by a provider before 3rd November 2014 and that determination is notified to the Director within five working days of the determination;

(ii) is emailed or faxed to, and received by, the Director before 3rd November 2014; or

(iii) is submitted through the Client and Cost Management System before 3rd November 2014.

(3) For the purpose of paragraph (1), an application that is made to the CLA is made before 3rd November 2014 if—

(a) the individual makes the application to a CLA Specialist Telephone Provider before 12.30pm on 1st November 2014; or

(b) the Civil Legal Advice Operator Service transfers the individual to a CLA Specialist Telephone Provider before 12:30pm on 1st November 2014 and—

(i) the call is not answered by the CLA Specialist Telephone Provider before 12.30pm on 1st November 2014;

(ii) the individual leaves a message with the CLA Specialist Telephone Provider before 12.30pm on 1st November 2014; and

(iii) the individual makes the application to a CLA Specialist Telephone Provider within two weeks of leaving the message.

(4) In this regulation—

“the Act” means the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012;

“CLA” means the Civil Legal Advice Operator Service and the CLA Specialist Telephone Providers;

“CLA Specialist Telephone Provider” means a provider under the 2013 CLA Contract between a provider and the Lord Chancellor;

“Client and Cost Management System” means the client and cost management system used by the Director in relation to applications for civil legal services;

“Controlled Work” has the meaning given in regulation 21(2) of the Procedure Regulations;

“emergency representation” means—

which is provided following a determination made on an urgent application;

“Licensed Work” has the meaning given in regulation 29(2) of the Procedure Regulations;

“the Merits Criteria Regulations” means the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 2013( 3 );

“the Procedure Regulations” means the Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations 2012( 4 );

“provider” means a person who provides civil legal services under Part 1 of the Act (legal aid); and

“working day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971( 5 ).