The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is to reduce its senior staffing levels in a bid to cut £30 million from its administration budget, the Gazette learned this week.


A spokesman said the LSC was currently undergoing 'major transformation' in the way it worked, and planned to 'significantly downsize' its administration and overheads.



The plan is designed to cut the LSC's £100 million annual administration budget in line with recommendations made by Lord Carter in his review of legal aid.



'We know as a result of the transformation programme we will become a smaller organisation and this, in turn, will mean that we will require a smaller number of senior staff,' said the spokesman.



He said that, where possible, this would be achieved through employee turnover or by providing alternative employment for individuals, but he did not rule out the possibility of redundancies.



A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: 'Once Best Value Tendering is put in place, there will be a different kind of system which will require less administration, as the aim is for it to administer itself... The view is that, if we are asking providers to become more efficient, then we are also under a duty to improve our efficiency. Therefore, it is not about cost, but about making the organisation more efficient.'



Meanwhile, the LSC also confirmed that three regional managers have resigned in recent months - Lyn Storey in the Midlands and Linda Summers in the north-west, who have already left, and Martin Seel in London, who is due to leave in the next fortnight.



Commenting on their departures, the spokesman said: 'As with all other organisations, individuals make career decisions and this inevitably means that there will be turnover of staff at all levels.'



But Roy Morgan, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said the loss of three directors was 'concerning'. He added: 'They are among the last people at the LSC with a legal aid background and the loss of their experience must raise questions of how the LSC is planning to restructure.'



Catherine Baksi