Pilot for legal cases for first instance disability discrimination cases: Criteria for success and failure, and selection of solicitors

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Dear Equality and Human Rights Commission,

With respect to your current pilot to fund first-instance disability discrimination cases.

Please advise:

1) the success and failure criteria for the pilot. I.E. what assessment mechanisms you have put in place to determine the results of the cases you fund, whether these are "successful" or not, whether the funding and the EHRC's involvement made a difference in these cases or at a more strategic level for disabled people's lives, and thus whether the pilot was successful or not. What are your metrics, and your criteria for success and failure?

2) You state: "In the event that we agree to fund a case involving an unrepresented claimant, we will select appropriate solicitors."

Please provide the list of solicitors you are using for cases without existing representation. Please also provide the list of solicitors you had pre-approved from which solicitors may be identified for cases attracting funding under the pilot; the criteria by which you identified and approved such solicitors for such potential work; and the critieria and mechanism by which you chose and appointed the solicitors who have been given the work where disabled people awarded legal funding under this pilot did not already have representation.

3) Please identify how many applications for funding you have had, how many you approved, how many you refused, and of each of the above, how many were already represented and how many weren't.

Thank you

Yours faithfully,

Doug Paulley

Freedom of Information, Equality and Human Rights Commission

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Freedom of Information, Equality and Human Rights Commission

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Paulley

 

Subject: Acknowledgement

 

Thank you for your email dated 10 March 2017 in which you have asked the
following:

‘’With respect to your current pilot to fund first-instance disability
discrimination cases.

 

Please advise:

 

1) the success and failure criteria for the pilot. I.E. what assessment
mechanisms you have put in place to determine the results of the cases you
fund, whether these are "successful" or not, whether the funding and the
EHRC's involvement made a difference in these cases or at a more strategic
level for disabled people's lives, and thus whether the pilot was
successful or not. What are your metrics, and your criteria for success
and failure?

 

2) You state: "In the event that we agree to fund a case involving an
unrepresented claimant, we will select appropriate solicitors."

 

Please provide the list of solicitors you are using for cases without
existing representation. Please also provide the list of solicitors you
had pre-approved from which solicitors may be identified for cases
attracting funding under the pilot; the criteria by which you identified
and approved such solicitors for such potential work; and the critieria
and mechanism by which you chose and appointed the solicitors who have
been given the work where disabled people awarded legal funding under this
pilot did not already have representation.

 

3) Please identify how many applications for funding you have had, how
many you approved, how many you refused, and of each of the above, how
many were already represented and how many weren't.’’

 

As your email amounts to a request for information that the Commission may
hold, in accordance with the requirements of section 10 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, we will respond promptly and in any event no later
than 20 working days following the date of receipt of the request. In this
instance a response will be with you no later than 7 April 2017. If for
any reason we are not able to meet this deadline, we will notify you and
give you an indication of when we will send you a full response.

If you have any queries please contact us using the details below.

                                                                                                                                                                             

Yours sincerely

 

Corporate Correspondence Team

 

Email: [1][Equality and Human Rights Commission request email]

 

Correspondence Unit | Arndale Centre, Arndale House, Manchester, M4 3AQ

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Freedom of Information, Equality and Human Rights Commission

7 Attachments

Dear Mr Paulley

 

Please find attached our response to your email dated 10 March 2017.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Oliver Varney

Senior Associate

 

Corporate Correspondence Team

 

DDI: 0161 829 8324

Email: [1][Equality and Human Rights Commission request email]

 

Correspondence Unit | Arndale Centre, Arndale House, Manchester, M4 3AQ

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Freedom of Information, Equality and Human Rights Commission

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Paulley

 

Further to our response of 07 April 2017, I just wanted to update you that
we have had to push back the publishing of our disability Access to
Justice (ATJ) pilot report. We hope to publish within the next few months.

 

Apologies for any inconvenience.  

 

Yours sincerely

 

Oliver Varney

 

Senior Associate

 

Email: [1][Equality and Human Rights Commission request email]

 

Corporate Correspondence Unit | Arndale Centre, Arndale House, Manchester,
M4 3AQ

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