Organisations offering legal aid for the firs' time must demonstrate their dedication to QA. The Legal Services Commission, established in April 2000, supersedes the Legal Aid Board and has made QA mandatory for any solicitors applying for public funds. Steve Orchard, chief executive of the Commission, believes the QA element will greatly enhance the serviceTwelve years ago the then Lord Chancellor; Lord Mackay, had just steered the Legal Aid Act 1988 through Parliament. This allowed a new Legal Aid Board to assume administration of the legal aid scheme from the Law Society, which had run it since just after the last war. In a letter to the chairman of the shadow Board, Lord Mackay asked about ways in which not-for-profit agencies (such as the Citizens Advice Bureau) might be paid from the legal aid scheme to deliver advice to people with lower incomes, who are less likely to have a solicitor.
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