Family tender 2011

This page contains information about the tender process that we are running in 2011 for interim family contracts. These contracts will replace the Unified Contract under which providers currently deliver family services and family with housing.

Latest updates

10 April 2012 - 2012 Standard Civil Contract (Family and Housing) Quality Standard Amendments

Confirmation of approach to obtaining a relevant quality standard

As part of the recent tender processes we asked Applicants to commit to achieve accreditation under either the SQM or Lexcel quality standard within 6 months of the Contract start date.  The standard an organisation committed to achieving formed a condition of their 2012 Standard Civil Contract (Family and Housing).

Further to the award of new family contracts, the Contract Management team have received several queries from providers requesting that we accept an amendment to their chosen quality standard.

As the SQM and Lexcel are considered equivalent quality standards under the 2012 Standard Civil Contract (Family and Housing), where a provider requests to switch their quality standard, we will confirm we will allow this provided that they still achieve accreditation under the new standard in full within 6 months of the Contract start date.

If you wish to switch your organisation’s quality standard please:

Following the receipt of any written request, your Contract Manager will write to you and confirm that for the purposes of the condition at Clause 4.1 in your Contract For Signature we will now treat the new quality standard as the one you elected to achieve accreditation under in your response to the PQQ.

 If you have any queries about this approach, please contact your Contract Manager in the first instance.

29 February 2012 – Tender outcomes published

Outcomes of the Family Services and Family and Housing Services tender process can be found in the documents section on right hand side of this page. There is a separate document for each region.

Please note that where a family matter start allocation is listed as ‘0’ this indicates the provider is contracted to undertake licensed work only in this Category.

19 January - Contracts for Signature dispatch

We have started to send out Contracts for Signature to all those providers who successfully verified their tenders to deliver Family and Family & Housing services in England and Wales.

The Contracts are being sent out in batches:

Please sign the Contract for Signature and return it to us by the date specified in the accompanying cover letter. Counter-signed contracts will be issued no later than 27 January.

Standard Civil Contract schedules

Providers will soon be issued with new Standard Civil Contract (SCC) schedules, covering the period 1 February 2012 to 31 January 2013. When their new schedule has been created, SCC holders will receive an email advising them that it is available to view in Contracted Work & Administration (CWA). Guidance on viewing schedules in CWA can be found on the LSC Online/quick guides page on our website. The relevant Quick Guide is called ‘Viewing contracts and schedules’. If you have any queries about you allocation, please contact your Contract Manager.

Manual addition of Special Provisions and Outreach information to Contract schedules

The Family and Family and Housing 2012 schedules initially sent out to providers will not contain any Special Provisions or Outreach information. This information will be added to the relevant schedules manually by LSC staff in due course. The providers affected by this will be notified by email when Special Provisions and Outreach Information has been added to their schedule. This only affects a small number of providers.

16 December – Verification Update

The process for verifying Tenders is set out at Section D of the Information For Applicants (IFA).

We are aware that some Applicants have received incorrect information advising them to contact the Legal Services Commission by telephone for confirmation that their verification has been successfully concluded.  Please note, this is not the correct process.  All communication regarding the Tenders must be sent by Applicants via the e-tender message board.

Applicants will be aware that the deadline for providing the requested information is 20 December 2011.

On 5 October, all Applicants were contacted to request completed Supervisor Declaration Forms and, where appropriate, a completed indemnity form. Applicants were requested to provide this by 18 October 2011.

Between 16 and 18 November, all successful Applicants received notification of the outcome of their Tender, and also a request for information needed to verify their Tender. Applicants were requested provide this information by 5 December 2011.

For those who did not provide this information by 5 December we then sent a chaser letter on 12-13 December requesting the specific outstanding information from Applicants. The deadline given in these letters was 20 December 2011.

Because of the time lag in processing the information and updating the records following receipt of information, some Applicants may have been asked to provide information that they believe we already have.

This might be because the information they have provided is still incorrect, or information is missing.  By way of example, we have encountered Applicants submitting Supervisor Declaration on old forms or not providing all the information required, such as accreditation dates.  In these situations, although the Applicant may believe they have sent us the necessary information, we will still be requiring a completed form.

We will not be assessing information before the deadline and Applicants are reminded that responsibility lies with them to provide accurate information prior to the deadline of

20 December 2011. 

In summary, all Applicants are advised to check the message boards for any messages from us requesting information and to carefully check the information they have submitted to us to ensure that it is accurate and complete.

Common examples of incomplete information we have received include:

Please see the 'Verification FAQ Update' in the documents panel on the right hand side of this page for answers to commonly asked verification questions.

5 December 2011 - Verification deadlines
As set out in notification letters to successful Applicants, we have asked for verification information to be submitted to us by today, through the eTendering system. This includes confimation from Key Personnel that the information provided in the Applicant's Tender remains valid and that they agree to meet and adhere to the Terms of the Contract. This confirmation can be sent in a message through the eTendering system message board; there is no separate form needed for this.

Please note that, as specified at Part One, paragraph 11.1 of the Information For Applicants document, the final deadline for verification is 20 December 2011.  We can therefore confirm that any outstanding documentation must be submitted to the LSC through the eTendering message system by the end of 20 December 2011.

Notification letters give details of what verification information we need. Further information is available in the Information for Applicants and in the FAQ on Notification, Verification and Appeals which are in the documents panel on the right hand side of this page. Any further queries should be sent through the message board in theTendering system. However, please note that we are receiving very high volumes of messages so will not be able to respond immediately.

18 November 2011 - Appeal timescales
We have now started to receive appeals from organisations whose Tenders/Individual Bids have been unsuccessful. The deadline for submitting an appeal is set out in the notification letter. An initial sift of appeals to determine if an Applicant has a right of appeal in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of Tender will be undertaken before the end of December. Where it is determined that Applicants have no right of appeal we will contact them by email before the end of December. If the Applicant has a right of appeal their appeal will be assessed and the Applicant will be notified of the outcome before the end of January.

18 November 2011 - Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on Notification, Verification and Appeals now available
We are continuing to send out notification of the outcome of the tender process and have received several questions on the appeal and verification processes. A Frequently Asked Questions document is now available in the Documents panel on the right hand side of this page to answer the most common queries.

11 November 2011 - Notification of outcomes starts today
Today we are starting to notify Applicants of the outcomes of their Tenders.

We will notify applicants from Friday 11 November where Tenders or Individual Bids have been unsuccessful. Where there is a right of appeal, the appeal procedure and deadline will be set out in the notification letter. The Appeal Pro-forma is available in the documents panel on the right hand side of this page. For further information on rights of appeal please see the ‘Terms and Conditions of Tender’ in Section A of the ‘Information for Applicants’ in the documents panel on the right hand side of this page.

From Wednesday 16 November to Friday 18 November we will be sending out letters to Applicants whose Tenders and/or Individual Bids have been successful. These letters will also include information about verification of their Tender and next steps. It is important that Applicants follow any instructions given in these letters.

All notification letters will be sent to applicants through the message boards in the LSC's secure eTendering system. Applicants should check the message boards in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) and Invitation To Tender (ITT) regularly to ensure that they do not miss any important messages. If Applicants have not received notification of the outcome of their Tender by Monday 21 November, they should contact us through the message boards.

5 October 2011 –Supervisor Declaration Forms and Indemnity Forms published
Today we have written to all applicants, requesting that they send us properly completed Supervisor Declaration Forms, in accordance with the Paragraph 9 of Section C of the Information for Applicants (IFA). These should be sent via the message board in the e-Tendering system by the close of business on Wednesday 19th October 2011.

We have also published our Indemnity Forms, which Applicants with limited liability (unless a registered charity) have committed to provide as part of their tender. The relevant forms can be found in the documents section of this page. These forms include an indemnity form that applies to providers who operate as partnerships where each partner is a Limited Liability Company. Applicants should submit these as soon as they have completed the form.

3 October 2011 - Deadline for submitting tenders has passed
The deadline for submitting tenders was 12 noon on 3 October 2011. Late responses cannot be accepted.
We will now be assessing tenders and will notify Applicants of results as per Part One, Section 11 of the Information for Applicants.

23 September 2011 - Final "Family Services Frequently Asked Questions" document published
As set out at 9.5 of Part One of the Information for Applicants (IFA), we have today published our final Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.  This FAQ also includes the questions and answers publshed in the earlier version of the FAQ, although some question numbering has been revised. 

The deadline for questions about the IFA, the PQQ or the ITT was up to 12 noon on 19 September 2011. Questions of wider interest have been collated and answered in the final "Family Services Frequently Asked Questions" document.  The FAQ document can be found in the Documents panel on the right hand side of this page.

We are unable to answer questions relating to the IFA, the PQQ or the ITT after the deadline of 12 noon on 19 September 2011.

If you have technical queries on how to use the eTendering system, you should contact technical support on 020 8763 3241 or by email at cla.enquiries@firstassist.co.uk.

The deadline for submitting tenders is 12 noon on 3 October 2011.

22 September 2011 - Postcode tool replaced
Having received queries from some potential applicants who have been unable to locate their office within the Copeland Access Point, we have published a revised version of the postcode tool (version 2) to enable those in the Copeland and Allerdale Access Points in the Cumbria Procurement Area to locate which Access Point their office is based in.

This change only affects applicants wishing to bid in the two Access Points of Copeland and Allerdale.

Version 1 of the postcode tool will still be available within the ITT response and may be used by any applicant tendering from an office outside the Copeland and Allerdale Access Points. Version 1 is also available in the Documents Panel on the right hand side of this page.

Version 2 of the postcode tool has been published as an attachment in the ‘Buyer Attachments’ section of the Bravo e-tendering system. Applicants tendering to deliver services in either the Copeland or Allerdale Access Point must use version 2 of the postcode tool to confirm their office location. Applicants in any other procurement area may use either version 1 or version 2 of the postcode tool.

To view and open version 2 in the ‘Buyer Attachments’ area of the e-tendering system, applicants should enter the ITT ‘Family and Family & Housing Services for February 2012’. On the left hand side of the screen there is a box titled ‘ITT Details’. The second option in this box is ‘Buyer Attachments’. By clicking on ‘Buyer Attachments’, applicants are taken to a new screen where the postcode tool (version 2) is available to download.

Applicants whose individual bids are not submitted for the correct Access Point will be rejected.

If any potential applicant needs further help with accessing the postcode tool they should contact the technical helpdesk by telephone on 0208 763 3241 or by email at cla.enquiries@firstassist.co.uk.

15 September 2011 - First "Family Services Frequently Asked Questions"document published
As set out at 9.5 of Part One of the Information for Applicants (IFA), we are today publishing our first Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.

If you have any further questions about the IFA or the Invitations to Tender you may submit them up until 12 noon on 19 September 2011 (note this is referred to as the ‘End date for supplier clarification messages’) on the eTendering system. All questions must be submitted using the online secure messaging tool within the eTendering System (see Part One, Section 8.1 of the IFA for more detail about eTendering).

Questions that we consider to be of wider interest will be collated and answered centrally in writing to ensure that all interested parties have equal access to information in the answers. Answers to initial questions are published in this first FAQ document. A final FAQ document will be published on 23 September 2011.

If you have technical queries on how to use the eTendering system, you should contact technical support on 020 8763 3241 or by email at cla.enquiries@firstassist.co.uk.

The closing date for tenders is 12 noon on Monday 3 October.

5 September 2011 - Family tender process opens
The tender process for new family contracts has opened today (5 September 2011) and will close at 12 noon on Monday 3 October 2011.

The documents on this page provide details of the specification for the contracts and information on what you need to do to apply (Information for Applicants).

The process is non-competitive with all those applications which pass the Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) and meet the selection criteria (essential requirements for the delivery of the service) being awarded contracts. Please note that we have used the term ‘selection criteria’ rather than ‘essential criteria’ which has been used by the LSC in the past. This is to bring it in line with standard procurement terminology.

The tender process is for contracts for all family work including child abduction.

Applications must be made online through the e-tendering system. A helpline (0208 763 3241) has been set up which you can call if you are having any technical problems with using the eTendering system.

If you have any questions about the content of the PQQ, Invitation to Tender or Information for Applicants these should be raised through the e-tendering system and must be asked by 12 noon on 19 September.

Questions of wider interest will be collated and answered through a Frequently Asked Questions document which will be updated weekly and published in the documents panel on this page. A final Frequently Asked Questions document will be published on 23 September.

Contracts will commence in February 2012. Existing contracts will be extended until this date.

Closing date for tenders is 12 noon on Monday 3 October.

2 September 2011 - Procurement Plan published
We have today published the Family and Housing Procurement Plan in advance of the tender process opening next week.  This shows the Matter Starts that are advertised for Family and Housing in each Procurement Area / Access Point.  The tender process for Family Services and Family and Housing services will open on Monday 5 September 2011.

2 September 2011 - Open letter from Carolyn Downs published
In advance of the family tender process opening we have today published an open letter to potential applicants from Carolyn Downs. Organisations interested in tendering for Family Services are advised to read this – tender documentation providing full detail of the process will be published on 5 September when the tender process opens. The letter has also been circulated to representative bodies to share with their members.

30 August 2011 - Family tender process will open next Monday, 5 September 2011
As indicated in our timetable below, the family tender process will open next Monday, 5 September 2011. The closing date for receipt of tenders will be Monday 3 October 2011.

Any organisation wishing to carry out Family legal aid work from 1 February 2012 will need to tender for, and be awarded, a new contract in this tender process. A full Information for Applicants document will be published on this page when the tender opens next Monday. This will set out what an organisation should do to tender for a contract through this process.

All tenders must be submitted through the eTendering system. When you first visit to the eTendering site, you will need to register your organisation's details to be able to use the system - you will then be provided with a username and password. If you have previously used the system in 2010, you will be able to use your previous registration details.

Panel Membership Requirements
We are aware that there is some confusion over what panel membership is required in this tender process, particularly for those advising children. In order to be awarded a contract, no panel membership is required beyond that required by the Supervisor Standard. For the avoidance of doubt, membership of the Law Society’s Children Panel is not a requirement to deliver children work, and no additional points would be awarded for this.

Since publication of our response to the Family tender consultation, we have made three key changes to our approach to the tender process:

Child Abduction
We will not run a separate tender process for Child Abduction contracts. Any organisation wishing to carry out this work will need to apply for a contract through this main Family tender process.

Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)
In the PQQ, we had considered using information relating to sanctions applied under previous LSC contracts. As this tender process is an interim exercise, we have decided not to make this change to the PQQ at this point, but will consider it for future PQQs.

Quality Standard timescales
We confirm that we will allow Applicants 6 months to achieve Lexcel in accordance with the timescales for achieving the Specialist Quality Mark. Whichever quality standard an organisation uses, where it does not currently hold it, it will need to have applied for the standard by the time the tender is submitted to us.

11 August 2011 - Response to Family Tender Consultation
The consultation with representative bodies on our planned approach to the family tender has now closed.
A summary of responses and any changes we will be making, as well as a letter to the representative bodies involved in the consultation, can be found in the documents panel on this page.

The key amendments we will be making following comments received on the consultation are:

1. Supervisor to Caseworker ratio will be adjusted to 1:4
2. Providers will not be required to undertake the full range of family work
3. Housing contracts will be offered with a minimum size of 50 new matter starts.

We consider that these amendments will help ensure that clients receive access to quality legal advice and provide for a relatively straightforward tender process for applicants.

To help you plan for the tender, we are also providing more detail on the timetable. Planned dates are as follows:

The invitation to tender and any related documents will be published on this website on 5 September.

5 July 2011: We have today published a representative body consultation paper setting out our approach to how we plan to retender contracts for family services (and family with housing) later in 2011, so that all potential applicants can clearly see our planned approach. This paper is in the documents panel on the right hand side of this page.

We are consulting with representative bodies, who have already been involved in the development of the approach, and will be inviting feedback from their members.

As this is primarily a representative body consultation if any provider wishes to comment, they must do so by contacting their representative body (the Law Society, Resolution, Legal Aid Practitioners Group, the Association of Lawyers for Children, Institute of Legal Executives, the Family Law Bar Association or Advice Services Alliance). However, in the event that we do receive comments directly from providers, we will log these and ensure they are fed into the process.

19 January – Contracts for Signature dispatch

We have started to send out Contracts for Signature to all those providers who successfully verified their tenders to deliver Family and Family & Housing services in England and Wales.

The Contracts are being sent out in batches:

Please sign the Contract for Signature and return it to us by the date specified in the accompanying cover letter. Counter-signed contracts will be issued no later than 27 January.

Standard Civil Contract schedules

Providers will soon be issued with new Standard Civil Contract (SCC) schedules, covering the period 1 February 2012 to 31 January 2013. When their new schedule has been created, SCC holders will receive an email advising them that it is available to view in Contracted Work & Administration (CWA). Guidance on viewing schedules in CWA can be found on the LSC Online/quick guides page on our website. The relevant Quick Guide is called ‘Viewing contracts and schedules’. If you have any queries about you allocation, please contact your Contract Manager.

Manual addition of Special Provisions and Outreach information to Contract schedules

The Family and Family and Housing 2012 schedules initially sent out to providers will not contain any Special Provisions or Outreach information. This information will be added to the relevant schedules manually by LSC staff in due course. The providers affected by this will be notified by email when Special Provisions and Outreach Information has been added to their schedule. This only affects a small number of providers.

 

Last updated: 10 April 2012

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