The Legal Services Commission (LSC) may cut the number of firms on its specialist fraud panel by 90%, leaving just 20 to take on the most complex cases, it emerged last week.

Speaking at a meeting held by the Criminal Law Solicitors Association and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association (LCCSA), Criminal Defence Service head Richard Collins said it is considering reducing the current 195 panel firms.

He said the LSC intends to revise the panel to take account of experience to date.

One important issue will be whether to tighten the definition of fraud, allowing other criminal contract holders to undertake more very high-cost criminal cases.

This would mean a smaller number of panel firms would be needed for complex fraud cases.

'Any such proposals will be the subject of consultation,' he added.

LCCSA treasurer Peter Binning, partner in panel firm Corker Binning, said the panel scheme had been flawed from the beginning because it had allowed too many firms to join, but he argued that it was now having the rug pulled from under it before it had time to settle in properly.

He also complained about LSC proposals to switch the value of categories of cases; for example, a 'category one' case - which attracts the highest rates of pay - would need to be worth 60 million instead of the current 10 million.

The announcement came in the same week that the House of Lords debated new regulations, giving the LSC more leeway to make changes to the very high-cost criminal cases scheme.

Lord Thomas of Gresford QC complained about the 'overload of bureaucracy' surrounding the scheme, while shadow Lord Chancellor Lord Kingsland voiced concerns about the lack of opportunity for solicitors to appeal LSC decisions on the status of cases.

Home Office spokesman Lord Bassam of Brighton said any problems were for the Law Society and Bar Council to raise in discussions with the government and LSC.

Paula Rohan