As expected the announcement of the civil family fee scheme yesterday (see below) has triggered the announcement of the delayed timetable for the civil bid rounds. The immigration bid round is intended to start at the end of November and the bid round for other civil work is planned for the week beginning 8 February 2010. The new civil contract will commence on 1 October 2010.
The Legal Services Commission has also made an announcement on the criminal contracts. The tender for the best value tendering police station and magistrates' courts pilots in Avon and Somerset and Greater Manchester is now scheduled to start in the week beginning 4 January 2010 and the auction stage will go ahead in March 2010. The new criminal contract will commence in July 2010.
LAG believes it is good that legal aid providers have got some certainty now about the bid rounds, but if the Bar takes action to delay the implementation of the family fees this could lead to a further postponement of the civil contracts. With a general election certain next spring the temptation might be to try and seek a delay, hoping that it can renegotiate with a new government. Criminal legal aid firms also need to know the results of the consultation on fee cuts, which is due to end on 12 November, before they can make any decisions on bidding for police station work (see 'Criminal delay' blog below).
Showing posts with label magistrates' court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magistrates' court. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Monday, 20 July 2009
Criminal BVT U-turn
In the face of overwhelming opposition from LAG and others, including practitioners, the government has announced today that it will not be going ahead with its plans to roll out criminal best value tendering (BVT). LAG believes it would have been a disaster if it had stuck to its original plan of introducing BVT for work in police stations and magistrates’ courts across the country by January 2011. Instead, it has decided to evaluate the two pilots in Greater Manchester and Avon & Somerset due to commence in July next year before making a final decision. At the earliest any roll out would begin in 2013.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has also decided that practitioners will be able to undertake own-client work outside the police station areas they are contracted for. A tolerance of ten per cent of their total work will be introduced to cover this. This represents an important concession as practitioners had argued that not to allow own-client work outside the police station areas they are contracted for would hit practices hard and lead to an inefficient service. The LSC has also announced its intention to be more flexible on the number of providers it will contract with in an area.
Apart from the two pilot areas of Greater Manchester and Avon & Somerset, practitioners will be asked to apply for new contracts in July next year. The LSC will be using an online system for providers to apply for the new contracts. Practitioners in the pilot areas will be asked to bid using an online bidding process. The fear is that practitioners will put in suicide bids to secure the work and this could lead to the collapse of some firms.
In LAG’s view, the government's mistake was in believing that BVT was a magic bullet that could be introduced relatively painlessly to cut costs. LAG believes that the government pushed hard for the quick introduction of BVT, but had to cave in when it realised that it could result in the meltdown of the supplier base. LAG recognises that there are few alternatives to controlling costs in legal aid work apart from price-setting through fixed and graduated fees or price competition. The government and LSC need to set fair, sustainable prices for legal aid work; the alternative of cutting back what legal aid will pay for is unacceptable as it chokes off access to justice for the public.
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has also decided that practitioners will be able to undertake own-client work outside the police station areas they are contracted for. A tolerance of ten per cent of their total work will be introduced to cover this. This represents an important concession as practitioners had argued that not to allow own-client work outside the police station areas they are contracted for would hit practices hard and lead to an inefficient service. The LSC has also announced its intention to be more flexible on the number of providers it will contract with in an area.
Apart from the two pilot areas of Greater Manchester and Avon & Somerset, practitioners will be asked to apply for new contracts in July next year. The LSC will be using an online system for providers to apply for the new contracts. Practitioners in the pilot areas will be asked to bid using an online bidding process. The fear is that practitioners will put in suicide bids to secure the work and this could lead to the collapse of some firms.
In LAG’s view, the government's mistake was in believing that BVT was a magic bullet that could be introduced relatively painlessly to cut costs. LAG believes that the government pushed hard for the quick introduction of BVT, but had to cave in when it realised that it could result in the meltdown of the supplier base. LAG recognises that there are few alternatives to controlling costs in legal aid work apart from price-setting through fixed and graduated fees or price competition. The government and LSC need to set fair, sustainable prices for legal aid work; the alternative of cutting back what legal aid will pay for is unacceptable as it chokes off access to justice for the public.
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