LSC set to pilot legal aid peer review scheme to decide allocation of contracts

Access to Justice: alternative to supervisor requirements in areas where volume of work is low

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is set to pilot a project investigating new ways of applying the supervisor requirements blamed for law firms giving up legal aid work.The scheme, which will take place in Wales, will use peer reviews to decide whether firms are given a contract, rather than the current rule that firms must have a supervisor who has taken on 350 hours of work in the relevant area of law.

This policy was cited by almost a quarter of firms in last week's Gazette survey as a reason for dropping out of legal aid (see [2002] Gazette, 11 January, 1).

The LSC stressed that it will not be lowering standards, and that all other supervisor requirements will remain unchanged.

A spokesman added: 'It is likely that the peer review will only be used by the LSC in particular areas where access issues are evident, normally found in rural areas.'Law Society Vice-President Carolyn Kirby backed the pilot as a way of addressing access problems in Wales, but added that its success would depend on the calibre of the peer reviewers selected.Richard Miller, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, also welcomed the scheme.

'The 350-hour requirement is a key element in maintaining quality - however, it can conflict with the need to ensure adequate access to quality legal services where the volume of work in a particular field is low,' he said.Legal Action Group director Karen Mackay added: 'Experiments with more flexible means of meeting supervisor and quality standards are welcome; the LSC should be doing as much as it can to help providers give quality services while maintaining access.'But Wendy Hewstone, partner in Southampton-based Hannides & Hewstone, suggested that alternative ways of looking at the issue should be extended beyond rural areas.

'The current situation is penalising small firms everywhere because they need one supervisor for each area of law, and this is difficult to achieve if you only have 15 members of staff,' she argued.

Paula Rohan