The Lord Chancellor must designate a civil servant as the Director of Legal Aid Casework ("the Director").
The Lord Chancellor must make arrangements for the provision to the Director by civil servants or other persons (or both) of such assistance as the Lord Chancellor considers appropriate.
The Director must—
comply with directions given by the Lord Chancellor about the carrying out of the Director's functions under this Part, and
have regard to guidance given by the Lord Chancellor about the carrying out of those functions.
But the Lord Chancellor—
must not give a direction or guidance about the carrying out of those functions in relation to an individual case, and
must ensure that the Director acts independently of the Lord Chancellor when applying a direction or guidance under subsection (3) in relation to an individual case.
The Lord Chancellor must publish any directions and guidance given under this section.
Directions and guidance under this section may be revised or withdrawn from time to time.