Civil legal aid contracts - timetable for bid round 2004

The current Legal Services Commission General Civil Contracts (Solicitors) expire on 31 March 2004 and will be replaced by a new three-year contract.

To be awarded a civil contract from 1 April 2004, solicitors' firms must complete a bid panel registration form, which must be received by their LSC regional office by 2pm on 1 October 2003.

Firms that miss that deadline will not be considered for the award of a contract from 1 April 2004.

All firms that want to carry out civil work from 1 April 2004, including those with existing contracts, must register on the panel by the deadline.

Firms that do not currently hold the specialist quality mark (SQM) in a category of law in which they want a contract will need to pass a preliminary SQM audit by 1 April 2004, and should be contacting their regional office now to discuss arrangements.

The registration forms are available from LSC regional offices or from the contracting section of the Web site at www.legalservices.gov.uk.

There are separate registration forms for firms with controlled work contracts, firms with licence-only contracts and firms without a current contract.

Note that each office of a firm must register separately.