Press Releases pre-May 2010

The Legal Services Commission has today published application packs for the new six month General Criminal Contract (GCC) that will apply to legal aid firms across England and Wales from 14 January 2008.

Current providers and new firms can download them from our website at www.legalservices.gov.uk at CDS>Tenders and return them by email or post. Existing contract holders have also been sent an application pack in the post.

The application process has been designed to be as simple as possible and should not take providers very long to complete.

The application process opens on Monday 1 October and the deadline for applications is 4pm on Wednesday 31 October 2007.

Any providers, including current contract holders, who want to carry out new criminal legal aid work from 14 January 2008 must apply for the new GCC.

The LSC is confident that the majority of criminal legal aid providers will sign and that we will have sufficient firms to deliver the Criminal Defence Service.

Derek Hill, Director of the Criminal Defence Service, said: “As with the Unified Contract earlier this year when 95% of existing civil legal aid providers signed, we expect that most firms will see it as in their interest to sign, as well as in the interest of their clients.

He added: “There are no surprises in the new contract. We have consulted on its contents other than necessary changes to take account of legal developments.”

The main change in the new contract is the introduction of fixed fees for police station work. The LSC has set these so that in areas outside the main cities, an average provider with a typical caseload will receive the same income as now. One of the main benefits of fixed fees is that all firms will be in a position to enhance their business by reducing their costs.

Current providers who do not apply will not be able to take on new publicly paid work from 14 January 2008.

We are currently considering our response to the consultation on Crown Court criminal legal aid fees – the Litigators Graduated Fees scheme and we expect to publish this shortly.

We would rather not have to issue these short-term contracts, but in order to progress the reform programme we believe it is necessary because of the uncertainty created by the recent judgment in the Unified Contract judicial review brought by The Law Society.

The LSC would also like to clarify to service providers that following a request from the Law Society they were provided with a copy of the proposed contract at the beginning of the week. We do not feel it is appropriate to enter into further consultation with representative bodies as most of the substance of the contract has already been consulted on and been the subject of previous discussions, the only exception being the changes required by the recent judgment.

Media contact:

Dan Kellingley Tel: 020 7759 0415

Notes to editors:

The other changes to the contract include:

• Expansion of the Defence Solicitor Call Centre to ‘own client’ work
• Expansion of CDS Direct to those elements of ‘own client’ work suitable for Telephone Only advice
• Introduction of the Very High Cost Case contracting panel to run for 18 months.

Full details of the application process and application forms will be sent to all current General Criminal Contract holders by the end of September 2007. The pack will also include a notice terminating the existing contracts with effect from midnight on 13 January 2008.

The application packs will also be available online at the LSC’s website from 28 September (www.legalservices.gov.uk - select the ‘CDS menu’ and then click on ‘Tenders’) for anyone who is not currently a General Criminal Contract holder but is interested in undertaking publicly funded criminal defence work.
The LSC will be regularly posting updated information including Q&As on its website at www.legalservices.gov.uk. (Select CDS>Tenders>General Criminal Contracts).

Potential applicants and interested parties may contact any LSC Regional Office with any questions. Alternatively queries may be emailed to CDS.Contracts@legalservices.gov.uk.  Regional offices will also be holding Q&A sessions from 8 October for anyone who would like to call in to have their questions answered. Details of who to contact to arrange to attend a Q&A session can be found on the LSC website. Please note, however, that we are only able to clarify information already published, and any further queries may be collated and the answers published in an updated Q&A document, to ensure equal access to information for all potential applicants.

In addition the LSC will be issuing regular e-mail updates regarding the application process to existing service providers. Any organisations interested in undertaking criminal defence service work can also subscribe to these updates at http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/help/lsc_update.asp#how_to_subscribe