Press Release

Way forward on Preferred Supplier announced

18 December 2006

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) today published its response to the consultation on a national Preferred Supplier scheme and set out the way forward for the scheme.

The Preferred Supplier scheme will set higher entry standards for solicitor firms and advice agencies wanting to do legal aid work, securing consistently higher quality services for clients and providing better value for taxpayers.

The scheme has been developed further following consultation to meet many of the concerns expressed, particularly the impact on small firms and the need to give providers sufficient time and support to achieve Preferred Supplier status. High performing providers will now be able to take advantage of a number of the Preferred Supplier benefits earlier in the application process. A Relationship Manager, who will be able to help the provider through the change process, will be allocated during the application process – rather than after Preferred Supplier status has been granted.

The revised process will be implemented from April 2007 using two performance measures as an initial filter, followed by peer review. A provider must achieve a peer review rating of 1 or 2 or a file assessment pass in all their contract categories to be awarded Preferred Supplier status.

Welcoming the publication of the final scheme, Carolyn Regan, Chief Executive of the LSC, said:

“Preferred Supplier is a crucial part of the legal aid reform programme. Organisations that are awarded Preferred Supplier status will be rewarded with greater autonomy, simpler processes and lower transaction costs.

"I would like to thank everyone who responded to the consultation, as well as those providers who attended one of the Preferred Supplier events we held between April and June 2006.All of this feedback has been invaluable to the LSC in developing the proposals we consulted on.”

A representative from over 50% of solicitors’ firms attended one of the 55 solicitor events and a representative from 70% of not-for-profit agencies attended one of our 11 nfp events. We received over 800 feedback forms from these events.

Carolyn added:

“The new entry criteria should enable the LSC to bring forward some of the benefits of Preferred Supplier status, including relationship management, electronic working and devolved powers to make important funding decisions.”

The exact roll out schedule for the Preferred Supplier scheme will be announced in early 2007. This will complement the timetable for the implementation of the reforms in Legal Aid Reform: the Way Ahead.

ENDS

Media information

Daniel Kellingley Tel: 020 7759 0415

Notes to editors

Consultation on the national Preferred Supplier scheme took place between 20 March 2006 and 12 June 2006.
Copies of the LSC’s response to the consultation on the national Preferred Supplier scheme, Quality Relationships Delivering Quality Outcomes The Preferred Supplier Scheme: Response to Consultation, are available on the Consultations page.
A single Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) has been conducted for the Preferred Supplier scheme and Legal Aid Reform: the Way Ahead. The RIA will be available shortly from the LSC’s website.
A draft RIA for the LSC’s consultation paper Market Stability Measures will also be available shortly from the LSC website. The draft RIA examines the impacts of the interim measures proposed to preserve market stability in advance of wider police station procurement changes in October 2007.

Last updated: 28 December 2006