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Law Society, Resolution, LAPG and ALC welcome ‘pragmatic and sensible decision’
The Law Society has welcomed the Legal Services Commission’s decision to open a further tender for licence-only family and family and housing work.
Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said:
‘I welcome this pragmatic and sensible decision from the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to open a further tender for licence-only family and family and housing work; which is a final opportunity for those excluded by reason of application error to obtain a contract.
‘I am pleased that the constructive discussions between the Law Society and the LSC resolved this matter so efficiently.
‘We hope that the tender process continues to be a straightforward one.
‘In these uncertain times for the LSC’s supplier base anything that encourages firms to continue legally aided work is to be welcomed.’
The LSC said that whilst well over 90% of applicants completed the tender successfully, and the vast majority of existing family contracted providers have been offered the new contract which takes effect on 1 February 2012, a number of providers were unsuccessful, due to mistakes with their bid forms. The LSC had previously communicated that, to ensure equality of treatment for all applicants, they would be unable to intervene in the tender process, to point out to providers, or correct, any errors they may have made.
In discussions between the Law Society, the Legal Aid Practitioners’ Group (LAPG), Resolution and the LSC, all parties agreed that entering protracted and costly litigation would be an unwelcome distraction at the present time for all concerned.
The LSC has therefore agreed that it will open a further tender for licence-only Family and Family Housing work; with contracts awarded through that tender to take effect from 1st April 2012. This will represent a final opportunity for providers who were unsuccessful due to bid form mistakes in the first tender to obtain a contract to carry out licensed work.
Given the high success rate in the recent family tender exercise, sufficient matter starts have already been awarded but a licence only contract will ensure that those providers who would otherwise be unable to undertake new publicly funded family work can continue to do so.
Those that were successful in the recent family tender exercise need not apply, only those who were previously unsuccessful or who seek a licence-only Family contract. It should be emphasised to all of those planning to apply that there will be no further opportunities to obtain a legal aid contract until tenders for the reduced scope of legal aid open in the summer for commencement in April 2013.
The LSC says that providers applying in this tender round must make sure that they thoroughly check their tender documents properly before they submit them, as the LSC will not be able to correct any errors.
The LSC, The Law Society, LAPG and Resolution believe that this approach represents a sensible way forward. It allows those providers who would otherwise have been facing an uncertain future the chance to continue providing publicly funded work for the benefit of families and children, while considering their longer term plans in light of the reforms to legal aid.
All parties are pleased that the process of reaching this agreement has been a constructive one, with all sides showing a strong commitment to seek a mutually acceptable solution.
Full details of the tender will be published on the LSC website soon.
The Association of Lawyers for Children has also welcomed the announcement. It says that it hopes this will go some way to resolving the extraordinary situation which left around 70 providers around the country without a contract to continue providing services to children and families after the end of this month, despite this tender round having been non-competitive.
The ALC highlights the failure of the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS). It is understood to have been “failed” because, according to the electronic tendering system used by the LSC, the tender documentation uploaded through the internet portal did not include their address. Even if this was correct, says the ALC, it is a deeply worrying reason for not renewing their contract, NYAS is a nationally-known and respected provider of services, involved in the most difficult of children’s cases, and regarded as an essential resource for the family justice system.
- Keywords:
- legal aid
- public funding
Article source: http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed95307