The Legal Services Commission (LSC) this week was defiant over its plans for competitive tendering in criminal work, despite the threat of industrial action.

Speaking at a meeting hosted by the London Criminal Court Solicitors Association (LCCSA), Richard Collins, LSC head of policy and planning, said: 'We would need a very clear reason for it being inconceivable [to have a competitive element] in this whole thing. It's not going to go away.'


There is likely to be another overspend on criminal legal aid that was 'significant enough for us to be concerned', he added, and also caused controversy by suggesting the Law Society should be firmer on quality in the field.


Rob Brown, immediate past president of the LCCSA, said Mr Collins seemed to be taking a harder line than previously.


Law Society Deputy Vice-President Kevin Martin said it was clear the proposals would damage access to justice and put law firms out of business.


Most delegates voted in favour of taking some form of action and quizzed Mr Martin on Chancery Lane's position, arguing that barristers had caused the government to back down by striking over the very high-cost criminal cases scheme.


Mr Martin said: 'When things were proposed that might have had regulatory implications [over striking], the bar turned a blind eye, and I would not rule that out as far as the Law Society is concerned.'


Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association and head of the Law Society's representation board, told Mr Collins it was not for Chancery Lane to police legal aid quality standards. 'The Law Society is not there to pick up on your failures,' he argued.


Meanwhile, national crime firm Tuckers has put together a separate group of London-based large firms to deal with tendering. The 24 members of the Association of Major Criminal Law Firms handle 30% of police station and magistrates' court work in the capital. Some smaller firms have criticised the move.