CLS news

We are pleased to announce that from 1 November 2008 the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is adopting the Government Code of Practice on Consultation as its own standard.

Previously we were unable to sign up to the Government Code so we created a tailored version of it - the Code of Practice on LSC Consultations. The Government consulted on revising its Code in 2007. The new Government Code and accompanying guidance are now extended to non-departmental public bodies like the LSC to sign up to on a voluntary basis.

We welcome this opportunity and are keen to adopt the new Code to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to effective consultation and compliance with best practice standards. The new Government Code will replace the Code of Practice on LSC Consultations from 1 November 2008.

We are currently consulting on Virtual Courts and running a survey on Legal Visits to Prisons, and will be launching other significant crime and civil consultations soon.

You can now register on our website to keep informed of all our consultations. We have a secure, efficient and easy-to-use online system which you can also use to respond to LSC consultations. Anyone can use our online system and we would encourage people to do so. For more information and to register please visit the Consultations pages of our website.

Representative bodies and agencies may wish to inform any key stakeholders about this news. Please feel free to communicate it to any organisations or individuals who you think might be interested. If you have any queries about our consultations please contact our consultations department.